Note: One Can Miss

One Can Miss Mountains

and pine. One

can dismiss

a whisper’s

revelations

and go on as

before as if

everything were

perfectly fine.

One does. One

loses wonder

among stores

of things.

One can even miss

the basso boom

of the ocean’s

rumpus room

and its rhythm.

A man can leave

this earth

and take nothing

-- not even

longing -- along

with him.

Poems by Todd Boss

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Copyright 2008 Todd Boss. All rights reserved. Reprint permission available upon request. First published May 12, 2008 in THE NEW YORKER.

This poem is
in the book. Buy now.

T o d d B o s s

I spent two years in Alaska, getting my MFA in poetry in Anchorage. While I was there, I grew so fond of the surrounding mountains, that it was hard to leave them.
 When I first wrote down the title of this poem, I was struck by its double meaning. You can miss mountains after you’ve had them, but you can miss them even when they’re right in front of you.

This poem about Alaska was published in the New Yorker while I was in Hawaii! How’s that for continental dissonance?

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