Terminator Too

By Tom Clark b. 1941 Tom Clark

Poetry, Wordsworth

wrote, will have no

easy time of it when

the discriminating

powers of the mind

are so blunted that

all voluntary

exertion dies, and

the general

public is reduced

to a state of near

savage torpor, morose,

stuporous, with

no attention span

whatsoever; nor will

the tranquil rustling

of the lyric, drowned out

by the heavy, dull

coagulation

of persons in cities,

where a uniformity

of occupations breeds

cravings for sensation

which hourly visual

communication of

instant intelligence

gratifies like crazy,

likely survive this age.

Tom Clark, “Terminator Too” from Light and Shade: New and Selected Poems.
Copyright � 2006 by Tom Clark. Used with the permission of Coffee House
Press, www.coffeehousepress.org.

Source: Sleepwalker�s Fate: New and Selected Poems (Coffee House Press, 1992)

Biography

Tom Clark has combined the diverse roles of poet, biographer, novelist, dramatist, reviewer, and sportswriter during his writing career. In addition to dozens of books of poetry, a play, two novels, two story collections, and numerous biographies of literary figures, Clark's works include a book co-written with star baseball pitcher Mark Fidrych, poems about such sports legends as Catfish Hunter, Vida Blue and Bert Campaneris, . . .

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