Theodore Roethke Night Poems
- 1. The Far Field
I
I dream of journeys repeatedly:
Of flying like a bat deep into a narrowing tunnel
... - 2. Big Wind
Where were the greenhouses going,
Lunging into the lashing
Wind driving water
So far down the river
... - 3. The Shape Of The Fire
1
Whatâ??s this? A dish for fat lips.
Who says? A nameless stranger.
... - 4. The Geranium
When I put her out, once, by the garbage pail,
She looked so limp and bedraggled,
So foolish and trusting, like a sick poodle,
Or a wizened aster in late September,
... - 5. The Bat
By day the bat is cousin to the mouse.
He likes the attic of an aging house.
His fingers make a hat about his head.
... - 6. The Right Thing
Let others probe the mystery if they can.
Time-harried prisoners of Shall and Will-
The right thing happens to the happy man.
... - 7. Night Journey
Now as the train bears west,
Its rhythm rocks the earth,
And from my Pullman berth
I stare into the night
... - 8. In A Dark Time
In a dark time, the eye begins to see,
I meet my shadow in the deepening shade;
I hear my echo in the echoing wood--
A lord of nature weeping to a tree.
...
