An Explanation of America (Princeton Series of Contemporary Poets (156))

**From __An Explanation of America__:** **LAIR** __Robert Pinsky__ ? Inexhaustible, delicate, as if Without source or medium, daylight Undoes the mind; the infinite, Empty actual is too bright, Scattering to where the road Whispers, through a mile of woods ... Later, how quiet the house is: Dusk-like and refined, The sweet Phoebe-note Piercing from the trees; The calm globe of the morning, Things to read or to write Ranged on a table; the brain A dark, stubborn current that breathes Blood, a deaf wadding, The hands feeding it paper And sensations of wood or metal On its own terms. Trying to read I persist a while, finish the recognition By my breath of a dead giant's breath-- Stayed by the space of a rhythm, Witnessing the blue gulf of the air. Robert Pinsky (born October 20, 1940) Is An American Poet, Essayist, Literary Critic, And Translator. From 1997 To 2000, He Served As Poet Laureate Consultant In Poetry To The Library Of Congress. Pinsky Is The Author Of Nineteen Books, Most Of Which Are Collections Of His Own Poetry. His Published Work Also Includes Critically Acclaimed Translations, Including The Inferno Of Dante Alighieri And The Separate Notebooks By Czesław Miłosz. He Teaches At Boston University. Lair -- An Explanation Of America : A Poem To My Daughter -- Memorial. Robert Pinsky.