Berkeley in the Time of Plague
by Jack Spicer
Plague took us and the land from under us,
Rose like a boil, enclosing us within.
We waited and the blue skies writhed awhile
Becoming black with death.
Plague took us and the chairs from under us,
Stepped cautiously while entering the room
(We were discussing Yeats); it paused awhile
Then smiled and made us die.
Plague took us, laughed, and reproportioned us,
Swelled us to dizzy, unaccustomed size.
We died prodigiously; it hurt awhile
But left a certain quiet in our eyes.
Jack Spicer (American, 1925-1965) was an important figure in the gay literary community and the San Francisco Renaissance. He disdained publishing, and his work was not well-known outside his circle of friends. "Berkeley in Time of Plague" can be found in My Vocabulary Did This to Me: The Collected Poetry of Jack Spicer, which won the American Book Award in 2009.
by Jack Spicer
Plague took us and the land from under us,
Rose like a boil, enclosing us within.
We waited and the blue skies writhed awhile
Becoming black with death.
Plague took us and the chairs from under us,
Stepped cautiously while entering the room
(We were discussing Yeats); it paused awhile
Then smiled and made us die.
Plague took us, laughed, and reproportioned us,
Swelled us to dizzy, unaccustomed size.
We died prodigiously; it hurt awhile
But left a certain quiet in our eyes.
Jack Spicer (American, 1925-1965) was an important figure in the gay literary community and the San Francisco Renaissance. He disdained publishing, and his work was not well-known outside his circle of friends. "Berkeley in Time of Plague" can be found in My Vocabulary Did This to Me: The Collected Poetry of Jack Spicer, which won the American Book Award in 2009.