Galway Kinnell (1 February 1927 / Providence, Rhode Island)

''this one whom habit of memory propels to the ground of his making,
sleeper only the mortal sounds can sing awake,
this blessing love gives again into our arms.''

''after making love, quiet, touching along the length of our bodies,
familiar touch of the long-married,''

''A boy's hunched body loved out of a stalk
The first song of his happiness, and the song woke
His heart to the darkness and into the sadness of joy.''

''There is something joyous in the elegies
Of birds. They seem
Caught up in a formal delight,
Though the mourning dove whistles of despair.''