Mezzo cammin by Geoffrey Brock

Poems

November 2004

Mezzo cammin

Burke

was right!

Today, as I jogged down the center line
of a closed-off, rain-glossed road, lost in a rhythm,
the memory of a boy returned: fifteen

or so, barefoot in faded cut-off jeans,
sprinting past neighbors’ houses, tears drifting
into his ears, heart yanking at its seams—

he hoped they’d rip and didn’t slow at all
for more than a mile. After crossing Mission,
the boy collapsed beneath an oak, his whole

body one cramp. (But later the secret smile,
imagining Guinness there—the clock-men stunned!)
Twenty years gone, that race so vivid still,

yet I can’t for the life of me recall the gun:
who was it, or what, that made me start to run?

...

This article is available to subscribers and for individual purchase

Subscribe to TNC (Print and Online editions)

Subscribe to TNC (Online only)

Purchase article credit and clip this article

If you already have an account login first

Geoffrey Brock is the author Weighing Light and the translator of several books from the Italian language.

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.

Weblog

Further Studies in Gaffe-ology

by James Bowman

Feb 07, 2012 05:46 PM

Charles Murray's "Fishtown" in popular culture

by Emily Esfahani Smith

Feb 07, 2012 11:53 AM

Must-Read Alert: Andrew Roberts in demolition mode

by Roger Kimball

Feb 02, 2012 02:22 PM

The New Criterion

Poems

This article is available to subscribers and for individual purchase

Webcasts

RSS feeds