This poem is taken from PN Review 27, Volume 9 Number 1, September - October 1982.
'Pastor Errante'for Robert Pinsky
'And you, Enscaldunac?'
(Mary Austin, The Flock)
When you were explaining America, Robert, you did not
-Why should you?-explain
To your small daughter there had been a time when the pastor,
Meaning the shepherd in
Many tongues though not as it happens in Basque,
Roamed the Sierra Nevada.
It would, you must see, have made a difference: not
To have those alarmingly non-
Communicating Swedes or German-speaking
Bohemians on
The Willa Cather prairies for your girl
To grow wide-eyed at;
But instead in Inyo County Mary Austin's
Long-gone shepherds who might
...
The page you have requested is restricted to subscribers only. Please enter your username and password and click on 'Continue'.
If you have forgotten your username and password, please enter the email address you used when you joined. Your login details will then be emailed to the address specified.
If you are not a subscriber and would like to enjoy the 286 issues containing over 11,500 poems, articles, reports, interviews and reviews, why not subscribe to the website today?
If you have forgotten your username and password, please enter the email address you used when you joined. Your login details will then be emailed to the address specified.
If you are not a subscriber and would like to enjoy the 286 issues containing over 11,500 poems, articles, reports, interviews and reviews, why not subscribe to the website today?