Morning Arrives

By Franz Wright b. 1953 Franz Wright

Morning arrives

unannounced

by limousine: the tall

emaciated chairman

of sleeplessness in person

steps out on the sidewalk

and donning black glasses, ascends

the stairs to your building

guided by a German shepherd.

After a couple faint knocks

at the door, he slowly opens

the book of blank pages

pointing out

with a pale manicured finger

particular clauses,

proof of your guilt.

Source: Ill Lit: Selected and New Poems (Oberlin College Press, 1998)

Biography

Franz Wright’s collections of poetry include The Beforelife (2001), God’s Silence (2006), and Walking to Martha’s Vineyard, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 2004. He has received a Whiting Fellowship and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts for his poetry. Wright has translated poetry by Rainer Maria Rilke and Rene Char; in 2008 he and his wife, Elizabeth Oehlkers Wright, co-translated a collection by the Belarusian . . .

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