ISSUE SEVEN
May 1999

Linda Pastan
Linda Pastan Linda Pastan's books include Heroes in Disguise (Norton, 1991) and An Early Afterlife (Norton, 1995). PM/AM was a finalist for the National Book Award in 1982, and The Imperfect Paradise was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize.   Her most recent collection: Carnival Evening: New and Selected Poems 1968-1998 was a finalist for the National Book Award.
The New Dog    Click to hear this poem in RealAudio


Into the gravity of my life,
the serious ceremonies
of polish and paper
and pen, has come

this manic animal
whose innocent disruptions
make nonsense
of my old simplicities—

as if I needed him
to prove again that after
all the careful planning,
anything can happen.

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Linda Pastan: Poetry
Copyright � 1999 The Cortland Review Issue Seven — The Cortland Review