"MAN? BEWILDERED, HENRY STARED AT
THE WORLD OPPOSITE"
Man? Bewildered, Henry stared at the world opposite
and took up Intractable Problem: Am I part of it?
—(Yeah, man!)
— There's all that zealous; whereas he lean back.
There's all that competent; whereas he lack
a minimal plan.
Let's think of his nature as a kind of mist,
which cares through, and has been known to insist,
and frequent' does hurt,
and caves in, and recovers to open air.
There are the common opinions he declare
in the rapid of his 'art.
Oh his 'art thrashes. It will come to nix.
In time, in time, Henry will be towed away
as having counter-parked.
Devil a love will bail him from that fix.
Dispersing mist before the heat of day
in a corner of one galaxy.
_______________________________
John Berryman
Only Sing
152 Uncollected Dream Songs
Farrar, Straus, Giroux 2025
