NIGHT AIR
By Robert Pinsky
Sunday, August 19, 2007; Page BW12
Sometimes the ability to convey information compactly and quickly has moral grace. Economy in writing can put garrulous narration or evasive speechifying to shame. Here is the first poem in a new book by C. Dale Young:
NIGHT AIR
"If God is Art, then what do we make
of Jasper Johns?" One never knows
what sort of question a patient will pose,
or how exactly one should answer.
Outside the window, snow on snow
began to answer the ground below
with nothing more than foolish questions.
We were no different. I asked again:
"Professor, have we eased the pain?"
Eventually, he'd answer me with:
"Tell me, young man, whom do you love?"
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