Two Poems by Campbell McGrath

Two Poems: Campbell McGrath

Burning the ships Burning the ships on the beach, as Cortés did after disembarking upon the shore of that savagely-flowered mysterium, made evident to his wide-eyed men that this New World was theirs for the taking and retreat was not an option, no matter the brilliance of the hummingbirds, no matter how shocking the enemy with their poison darts and imprecations, much like my own urgent whisperings to our newborn son that first morning in Chicago: welcome, and, there is no going back.

C A M PBE L L M C G R AT H

Poem Ending with a Line from Robinson Jeffers Sifted from the dust of stars, from atom-drizzle, torn from the hem of the garment, forged from, molded from, wedded to, alloyed with, braided and cast down among shoals of river gravel in a wild dominion such as this, such as this— I am not dead; I have only become inhuman.

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