Tuesday, April 9, 2013



Jesse's Prize

In recent reflection
on William Faulkner
Jesse said:
my years inform me
this may be my last..
Our hearing then
gained special import..

We've heard before
of the Faulkner
imagination and scope..
of Jesse's attachment 
from an encounter
in Denver to an Oxford
 graveside visitation..

He absorbed 
Faulkner truths and
made them his own..
Truths quite simple:
a heart in conflict
a universal locality
a history not past..

These eternal verities
and struggles informed
Jesse's decades of
 inspiration for many..
Let's look once more
at that famous address
that Nobel moment..

Mr. Faulkner said:
Someone dedicated to
anguish and travail
will stand here..
Let us then
you and I
ask Jesse Gatlin
to come forward..
And in silence
with memories
and stand in
that place...







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