How could I have failed to realize that my favorite hate poem is perfect for my essay? Yes, folks, I come back again to W.S. Merwin’s “Paul.” If it’s something that the faculty would approve, I would commit to it right this second, yes I would. It is the only poem thus far that I have felt this strongly about.

Weldon Kees, who many of my students will remember well, may be another. Read this beauty, which Heather sagely reminded me about.

THE BEACH IN AUGUST

The day the fat woman
In the bright blue bathing suit
Walked into the water and died,
I thought about the human
Condition. Pieces of old fruit
Came in and were left by the tide.

What I thought about the human
Condition was this: old fruit
Comes in and is left, and dries
In the sun. Another fat woman
In a dull green bathing suit
Dives into the water and dies.
The pulmotors glisten. It is noon.

We dry and die in the sun
While the seascape arranges old fruit,
Coming in with the tide, glistening
At noon. A woman, moderately stout,
In a nondescript bathing suit,
Swims to a pier. A tall woman
Steps toward the sea. One thinks about the human
Condition. The tide goes in and goes out.

Those two poems suit me so well. If I could find another dark stunner, I would be thrilled. Thanks to all who have made suggestions thus far; keep them coming! Even if I don’t use them, I’m reading them.