Summer in the high purpose of clouds by William Logan

Poems

April 2007

Summer in the high purpose of clouds

Burke

was right!

From the porthole, a few fan-handed rays
staggered across the night’s mezzotint,
as if they concealed a single unpleasant thing.
In medias res—a whole life passed through its middles:

below lay unnatural clumps and hillocks,
deceptive as bas relief, one view the Renaissance
should have prevented. On the horizon, dawn blossomed,
one stroke slashing above another, scarlet bands

laddering to emptiness. The clouds parted,
and below lay the firefly lights of a city
otherwise black, like a rift valley
where some civilization slept undisturbed.

A minute later, the scene discomposed itself.
That night, I stopped thinking of you.

William Logan will have a volume of early selected poems out in the spring.

Webcasts

Anthony Daniels on the Euro Crisis
The New Criterion author Anthony Daniels delivers remarks in New York City about the "European experiment." With an introduction by editor Roger Kimball. Recorded on November 30, 2011.

Andrew C. McCarthy: The Muslim Threat
The New Criterion contributor Andrew C. McCarthy delivers remarks in Effingham, Illinois, about the threat of Islamism to the United States. A Friend of The New Criterion, Dwight Erskine, introduces McCarthy to the Effingham audience. Recorded on October 1, 2011.

Roger Kimball: The Grim Future of Statism
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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