Poetry Friday--Hayden Carruth

Photo by Ben McLeod.
The poet, Hayden Carruth, passed away a few weeks ago. He was 77 years of age and had lived for a time in nearby Vermont. You'll find a brief bio of Carruth here. His work may be found in several of our anthologies including After Frost: An Anthology of Poetry from New England [811.08 AFT], The Body Electric: America's Best Poetry from The American Poetry Review [811 BOD], and Good Poems: Selected and Introduced by Garrison Keillor [811.008 GOO].

Here's a taste of Carruth from "The Cows at Night"

The moon was like a full cup tonight,
too heavy, and sank in the mist
soon after dark, leaving for light

faint stars and the silver leaves
of milkweed beside the road,
gleaming before my car.

Yet I like driving at night
in summer and in Vermont:
the brown road through the mist

of mountain-dark, among farms
so quiet, and the roadside willows
opening out where I saw

the cows. Always a shock
to remember them there, those
great breathings close in the dark.

there's more to it, and you can find it in The Body Electric.