Man in the Street or Hand Over Mouth
He claps a hand
Across the gaping hole—
Or else the sight might
Well inside to
Melt the mind—if any
Thinking spoke
Were in the wheel,
Or any real
Fright-fragments broke
Out of the gorge to
Soak the breast, the meaning
Might incite a stroke—best
Press against it, close
The clawhole, stand
In stupor, petrified. The dream
Be damned, the deeps defied.
The hand’s to keep
The scream inside.
Copyright Credit: Heather McHugh, “Man in the Street or Hand Over Mouth” from The American Scholar. Reprinted by permission of the author.
Source: The American Scholar (University of Washington Press, 2006)