the avidity of the green leaves, the eagerness of sex, the craving of an infant for its life, the craving of the mother for hers--and, implicitly, the horribly if vaguely punitive society ("ye'll smile me dead") that menaces all of this natural "eagerness" with its craving for a merciless order. The poem is, among other things, a remarkably effective (and repellent) ghost story. It is also--unlike any tabloid story I'm aware of--a powerful work of art.
"The Cruel Mother"
from Robert Pinsky: Slate: Sex, Violence, and the Supernatural
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Whale
by Robert Pinsky
from Robert Pinsky: The New Yorker: Whale
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