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"A Hard Coming of It" and Other Poems
1967

Comb-bound: 70 pp.
Published: 1995

Striking images of the real and imagined world abound in these thirty-two pieces, from vivid glimpses of small-town life to surreal portrayals of city existence. Exploding traditional notions of universal themes such as faith, love, and justice, Brodsky casts aside "wide-jawed dreamers," in favor of those who "pause on the brink / Of discovery / And shout," realizing "that the dream, / The possibility, does exist, / Breeds like mosquitoes / On the eye's swollen surface."

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Loomings

The day breathed grey
And cold-dark sighs at dawn.
It lay heavy
Over our house,
Like an opaque paperweight
Atop fliers and bills
Or a hoot owl's plaint
Gone silent over a busy forest.
I walked outside
To breathe the quick, crisp dawn,
Gliding with its insomniac strides,
Then felt a sudden urge to go inside.