May 15, 1996

From Gerald R. Lucas
Revision as of 18:42, 14 January 2020 by Grlucas (talk | contribs) (Format tweak.)

The Mower
By: Philip Larkin (1979)

The mower stalled, twice; kneeling, I found
A hedgehog jammed up against the blades,
Killed. It had been in the long grass.

I had seen it before, and even fed it, once.
Now I had mauled its unobtrusive world 5
Unmendably. Burial was no help:

Next morning I got up and it did not.
The first day after a death, the new absence
Is always the same; we should be careful

Of each other, we should be kind 10
While there is still time.