Dream of a dead friend by Christian Wiman

Poems

April 2009

Dream of a dead friend

Burke

was right!

When the world was merely beautiful
And talk was keeping us from speech;
When the walk was almost over
And we were still just out of reach,
You closed my eyes
And led me by the hand
Through brush and low branches to stand
In the deep snow.

That cold was something I could feel.
That darkness was a choice.
Though I couldn’t see your face
I could hear your voice
Describe a sky
And a fine-needled pine tree,
A field, and snow, and you, and me.
Then you let go.

If I say the world is real
And outside my window is a dawn;
If I say the proof of love is grief
And trees are greener being gone,
Why, oh why
Will none of this be true
But in the moment I reach for you
Saying no, no.

Christian Wiman's most recent book is Every Riven Thing (Farrar, Straus & Giroux).

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The New Criterion editor Roger Kimball delivers remarks in Effingham, Illinois, about the future of statism and The New Criterion's 30th anniversary. A Friend of The New Criterion, Dwight Erskine, introduces Roger Kimball to the Effingham audience. Recorded on October 1, 2011.

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