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Mythologies by David Lehman | Poetry Foundation

poetryfoundation.org · 4,151 words · saved by 4 readers

One of the foremost editors, literary critics, and anthologists of contemporary American literature, David Lehman is also one of its most accomplished poets. Born in New York City in 1948, Lehman earned a PhD from Columbia University and attended the University of Cambridge as a...

Share I. The question is not how like the animals we are But how we got that way. We laugh, for what is a suicide note But the epitaph of an emotion? Few of us die out in the open; And when you say thesis, I say antithesis, But we don’t stop there: we take our opposing ideas, Plant them on opposing cliffs and then build a footbridge Between them, seemingly flimsy yet sturdy enough in fact To support a battalion. Hidden behind trees, we watch The soldiers march across it, single file, too scared To look down. We cheer them all, all except the boy In the fairy tale who knew no fear. Him we pity.

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