Harvest
Jay Parini
Already in the dark outbuildings
sharpen at the edges
as the dawn anticipates their lines.
The field is smooth now
like the stubble of a young man's beard.
The hay is bundled in the barn at last,
while overhead, above the well-scraped earth:
the razzle-dazzle heaven's spray of stars,
a gloating moon.
One lonely boy looks at that moon,
His rough hands hurting
as he locks the door, dreaming of cities.
He asserts a lame, lop-side smile.
The future he imagines
lies elsewhere, a penthouse paradise
where all the stars spread out beneath him
in the easy pickings of the lamp-lit streets.
About the Author
Jay Parini is a distinguished poet, novelist, biographer and critic. His books of poetry include The Art of Subtraction: New and Selected Poems, and he has written volumes of essays and critical studies, as well as biographies of John Steinbeck, Robert Frost and William Faulkner. His novels include Benjamin's Crossing, The Apprentice Lover, The Passages of H.M., and The Last Station, which was turned into an Academy Award-nominated film starring Helen Mirren, Christopher Plummer and Paul Giamatti. His forthcoming books include Jesus: The Human Face of God, and the novel, Galliano's Ghost.