Astronomy: a comet in the night sky. Wood engraving, n.d. [c.1860?]

 

Some journeys never promise a return:
  You set out late, barefoot, at night,
    Through oblique hours
    Themselves in flight;

And there are journeys without ways at all:
  You pass through wastes of withered heath,
    Through arguments
    Like a comb’s teeth;

Then there are journeys that you cannot take:
  You chew raw flesh on both your thumbs,
    You tilt your glass
    And darkness comes.

Kevin Hart is the Edwin B. Kyle Professor of Christian Studies in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Virginia. He is the author of many books, including Barefoot, a new collection of poems published by University of Notre Dame Press.

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