Dec 1, 2004
Pilgrims, still pilgrims, still come poor pilgrims,
at night to bring the howling house a door,
the burning man a sigh for his dry soul,
the children rebel poems turned to hymns.
From shrine to shrine, and farm to field, they go
for each of us who sleep in those enormous
ghosts of clothes the wanted-for and to-dust-
relinquished leave behind. They whisper zero
is a number too, and dip their hair
in Nameless Creek and shout down to us the way
to follow, one by one and O by O.
But by the morning we have not gone there.
The houses shrill their vowels; the grass quails.
There is no going, or a way to go.
...we need your help. Confronting the many challenges of COVID-19—from the medical to the economic, the social to the political—demands all the moral and deliberative clarity we can muster. In Thinking in a Pandemic, we’ve organized the latest arguments from doctors and epidemiologists, philosophers and economists, legal scholars and historians, activists and citizens, as they think not just through this moment but beyond it. While much remains uncertain, Boston Review’s responsibility to public reason is sure. That’s why you’ll never see a paywall or ads. It also means that we rely on you, our readers, for support. If you like what you read here, pledge your contribution to keep it free for everyone by making a tax-deductible donation.
December 01, 2004
Copyright © 1993-2020 Boston Review and its authors.
Printing Note: For best printing results try turning on any options your web browser's print dialog makes available for printing backgrounds and background graphics.
JOIN THE DISCUSSION
Confronting the challenges of this moment demands all the moral and deliberative clarity we can muster. While much remains uncertain, Boston Review’s responsibility to public reason is sure. Sign up for our newsletter and don’t miss a thing.
