And feel the night lean cool against my face:
And challenged by the sentinel of space
I pass."
- "Home-Bound" by Joseph Auslander* (PoLau '37-'41)
Auslander was pretty spiffy dude. He worked in a sweatshop as a child and rose to study at Harvard and the Sorbonne (swoon) and teach at Columbia. His poetry was used to sell war bonds and he is responsible for many of the rare poetry manuscripts in the Library Congress. Much of his poetry is about war and reflects an older style of writing. This particular poem struck me because it was different from the others included in this anthology. The writing is simple, austere. The lines aren't terribly long or esoteric. It's just easy so you can fill it with all your own meaning.
I think today this poem is about a journey that changes us. We go on some grand, or not so grand, adventure and when we come back to the start, we find that we don't fit there anymore. During Lent, we cut something unhealthy out of our lives or add in something that we wouldn't otherwise but really should. When we get to Easter, are we the same person? Do we still crave that thing we cut out, or grumble at the thing we added in? Do we have the same feelings and understanding about the world around us? Or, for one day, do we become keenly aware of time and our place in the universe?
*From The Poets Laureate Anthology
, published by W.W. Norton in association with the Library of Congress. Poem copyright Joseph Auslander.
