Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Great Regulars: To read in the news that a platoon of soldiers

has been killed is a terrible thing, but to learn the name of just one of them makes the news even more vivid and sad. To hold the name of someone or something on our lips is a powerful thing. It is the badge of individuality and separateness. Charles Harper Webb, a California poet, takes advantage of the power of naming in this poem about the steady extinction of animal species.

The Animals are Leaving

from Ted Kooser: American Life in Poetry: Column 203

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