To the Animal in the Hole

J U N E 1 9 9 9

TO THE ANIMAL IN THE HOLE

by Erica Funkhouser

Hear Erica Funkhouser read this poem (in RealAudio).

(For help, see a note about the audio.)

Also by Erica Funkhouser:
Woodcock (1999)
India Cotton Shirt (1996)
The Accident (1995)
Owl Pellet (1992)

Go to:
An Audible Anthology
Poetry Pages

I've come back a few times,
seen you hurrying away
and, once, seen your eyes,
the green of night.
Hope for this, hope for that --
who is free from such nonsense?
The small changes in the dirt
at your entrance,
the disappearance of grass:
I note these in your absence.

You should just stay where you are.
You and your dark house
will grow together.
You'll reach the walls,
they'll welcome your fur.
I'll know you're in there somewhere,
foraging invisibly.
Good for you, then.
Keep home.

Erica Funkhouser teaches a poetry-writing workshop at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is the author of Sure Shot and Other Poems (1992) and The Actual World (1997).