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Yang, Lucy Calkins, Handel's <em>Messiah</em>, Thomas Mann's <em>The Magic Mountain</em>, eating with the Grateful Dead, and more.</span> <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/toc/2024/12/" class="ArticleMagazineIssueNav_magLink__LX9QG" data-action="click link - magazine bar - view magazine" data-label="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/toc/2024/12/" data-event-element="view magazine">View Magazine</a></div></div><div class="ArticleMagazineIssueNavRecirc_root__Xy4wH"><ul class="ArticleMagazineIssueNavRecirc_list__KUKKQ"><li class="ArticleMagazineIssueNavRecirc_promoItem__ds_ww"><a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2024/12/meritocracy-college-admissions-social-economic-segregation/680392/" class="ArticleMagazineIssueNavRecirc_promoLink__p8zB2" data-action="click link - magazine bar - item 1" data-label="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2024/12/meritocracy-college-admissions-social-economic-segregation/680392/" data-event-element="item" data-event-position="1" title="How the Ivy League Broke America"><div class="ArticleMagazineIssueNavRecirc_title__CDox_">How the Ivy League Broke America</div><div class="ArticleMagazineIssueNavRecirc_byline__mmvsn"><address><span>David Brooks</span></address></div></a></li><li class="ArticleMagazineIssueNavRecirc_promoItem__ds_ww"><a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2024/12/jimmy-o-yang-career-interior-chinatown-hulu/680395/" class="ArticleMagazineIssueNavRecirc_promoLink__p8zB2" data-action="click link - magazine bar - item 2" data-label="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2024/12/jimmy-o-yang-career-interior-chinatown-hulu/680395/" data-event-element="item" data-event-position="2" title="How Jimmy O. Yang Became a Main Character"><div class="ArticleMagazineIssueNavRecirc_title__CDox_">How Jimmy O. Yang Became a Main Character</div><div class="ArticleMagazineIssueNavRecirc_byline__mmvsn"><address><span>Shirley Li</span></address></div></a></li><li class="ArticleMagazineIssueNavRecirc_promoItem__ds_ww"><a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2024/12/iwao-hakamada-acquittal-japan-death-row/680393/" class="ArticleMagazineIssueNavRecirc_promoLink__p8zB2" data-action="click link - magazine bar - item 3" data-label="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2024/12/iwao-hakamada-acquittal-japan-death-row/680393/" data-event-element="item" data-event-position="3" title="He Was the World’s Longest-Held Death-Row Inmate. He Was Also Innocent."><div class="ArticleMagazineIssueNavRecirc_title__CDox_">He Was the World’s Longest-Held Death-Row Inmate. He Was Also Innocent.</div><div class="ArticleMagazineIssueNavRecirc_byline__mmvsn"><address><span>Robert F. Worth</span></address></div></a></li><li class="ArticleMagazineIssueNavRecirc_promoItem__ds_ww"><a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2024/12/lucy-calkins-child-literacy-teaching-methodology/680394/" class="ArticleMagazineIssueNavRecirc_promoLink__p8zB2" data-action="click link - magazine bar - item 4" data-label="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2024/12/lucy-calkins-child-literacy-teaching-methodology/680394/" data-event-element="item" data-event-position="4" title="How One Woman Became the Scapegoat for America’s Reading Crisis"><div class="ArticleMagazineIssueNavRecirc_title__CDox_">How One Woman Became the Scapegoat for America’s Reading Crisis</div><div class="ArticleMagazineIssueNavRecirc_byline__mmvsn"><address><span>Helen Lewis</span></address></div></a></li><li class="ArticleMagazineIssueNavRecirc_promoItem__ds_ww"><a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2024/12/national-gallery-exhibit-paris-1874-impressionist-movement/680401/" class="ArticleMagazineIssueNavRecirc_promoLink__p8zB2" data-action="click link - magazine bar - item 5" data-label="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2024/12/national-gallery-exhibit-paris-1874-impressionist-movement/680401/" data-event-element="item" data-event-position="5" title="The Exhibit That Will Change How You See Impressionism"><div class="ArticleMagazineIssueNavRecirc_title__CDox_">The Exhibit That Will Change How You See Impressionism</div><div class="ArticleMagazineIssueNavRecirc_byline__mmvsn"><address><span>Susan Tallman</span></address></div></a></li><li class="ArticleMagazineIssueNavRecirc_promoItem__ds_ww"><a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2024/12/israel-palestine-conflict-resolution-future/680389/" class="ArticleMagazineIssueNavRecirc_promoLink__p8zB2" data-action="click link - magazine bar - item 6" data-label="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2024/12/israel-palestine-conflict-resolution-future/680389/" data-event-element="item" data-event-position="6" title="My Hope for Palestine"><div class="ArticleMagazineIssueNavRecirc_title__CDox_">My Hope for Palestine</div><div class="ArticleMagazineIssueNavRecirc_byline__mmvsn"><address><span>Samer Sinijlawi</span></address></div></a></li></ul></div></div></div></div></nav><div class="Nav_fixedPosPlaceholder__0nyHE"></div><div class="Nav_overlay__zlKnQ" data-testid="overlay"></div><div class="BreakingNewsBar_root__pmOIb"></div><main id="main-content" data-category="story page" data-event-surface="article" data-flatplan-layout="standard"><gpt-ad class="GptAd_root__pAvcS Leaderboard_root__gbBIq" format="leaderboard" sizes-at-0="" sizes-at-976="leaderboard"></gpt-ad><article class="ArticleLayout_article__RHFMN article-content-body"><header class="ArticleHero_root__3w7kV ArticleHero_articleStandard__2tcdv" data-event-module="hero"><div class=""><div class="ArticleHero_defaultArticleLockup__vb8lz"><div class="ArticleHero_rubric__e4rjD"><div class="ArticleRubric_root__HNhbf" id="rubric" data-flatplan-rubric="true"><a class="ArticleRubric_link__nl9hy" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/category/poem/" data-action="click link - section rubric" data-label="https://www.theatlantic.com/category/poem/" data-event-element="rubric">Poem</a></div></div><div class="ArticleHero_title__PQ4pC"><h1 class="ArticleTitle_root__VrZaG" data-flatplan-title="true">Failed Elegy</h1></div><div class="ArticleHero_dek__EqdkK" data-flatplan-description="true"></div><div class="ArticleHero_byline__iFT6A"><div class="ArticleBylines_root__IBR5V"><address id="byline">By <a class="ArticleBylines_link__kNP4C" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/author/matthew-zapruder/" data-action="click author - byline" data-label="https://www.theatlantic.com/author/matthew-zapruder/" data-event-element="author" data-flatplan-author-link="true">Matthew Zapruder</a></address></div></div></div><div class="ArticleLeadArt_root__nRSLU"><figure class="ArticleLeadFigure_root__Bj81R ArticleLeadFigure_standard__20Izv"><div class="ArticleLeadFigure_media__R1npW" data-flatplan-lead_figure_media="true"><picture><img alt="illustration of small brown bird on branch with label "No. 20"" class="Image_root__XxsOp ArticleLeadArt_image__HZS4B" sizes="(min-width: 976px) 976px, 100vw" srcSet="https://cdn.theatlantic.com/thumbor/sDvaKn_Kxq4D4iCa-GXo75iJrFc=/0x0:2000x1125/750x422/media/img/2024/11/1224_poem_cred_HeritageImages_Getty/original.png 750w, https://cdn.theatlantic.com/thumbor/IvcFlLfAm4Ap_trjhWQXPu3AmjU=/0x0:2000x1125/828x466/media/img/2024/11/1224_poem_cred_HeritageImages_Getty/original.png 828w, https://cdn.theatlantic.com/thumbor/lY_DfOizjBzd9QFEVWfeXC0eW9Q=/0x0:2000x1125/960x540/media/img/2024/11/1224_poem_cred_HeritageImages_Getty/original.png 960w, https://cdn.theatlantic.com/thumbor/woRGfyR3fyZqXPzWFzBJKEjaL-A=/0x0:2000x1125/976x549/media/img/2024/11/1224_poem_cred_HeritageImages_Getty/original.png 976w, https://cdn.theatlantic.com/thumbor/wObMC3cRWPLHXWgEQkbzkjoTeyM=/0x0:2000x1125/1952x1098/media/img/2024/11/1224_poem_cred_HeritageImages_Getty/original.png 1952w" src="https://cdn.theatlantic.com/thumbor/lY_DfOizjBzd9QFEVWfeXC0eW9Q=/0x0:2000x1125/960x540/media/img/2024/11/1224_poem_cred_HeritageImages_Getty/original.png" id="article-lead-image" width="960" height="540"/></picture></div><figcaption class="ArticleLeadFigure_caption__Byu7W ArticleLeadFigure_standardCaption__PsDkd" data-flatplan-lead_figure_caption="true">Heritage Images / Getty</figcaption></figure></div></div><div class="ArticleHero_articleUtilityBar__JbQFj"><div class="ArticleHero_timestamp__bKhcB"><time class="ArticleTimestamp_root__b3bL6" dateTime="2024-11-17T17:00:00Z" data-flatplan-timestamp="true">November 17, 2024</time> </div><div class="ArticleHero_articleUtilityBarTools__ZHw8s"><div class="ArticleShare_root__Mq0RB"><button class="ArticleShare_text__oQKBy ArticleShare_shareButton__X0cIe" aria-haspopup="true" aria-controls=":R1i5ioomm:" aria-expanded="false" aria-label="Open Share Menu" data-action="click share - 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magazine promo" data-label="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/toc/2024/12/" data-event-element="view more">View More</a></section></div><p class="ArticleParagraph_root__4mszW" data-flatplan-paragraph="true">It seems these days<br/> every poem is a failed elegy</p><p class="ArticleParagraph_root__4mszW" data-flatplan-paragraph="true">for the world. Each one<br/> asks correctly, what good</p><p class="ArticleParagraph_root__4mszW" data-flatplan-paragraph="true">did writing this do? I cannot<br/> deny I often feel anger</p><p class="ArticleParagraph_root__4mszW" data-flatplan-paragraph="true">at the similarities between me<br/> and an oil company, especially</p><p class="ArticleParagraph_root__4mszW" data-flatplan-paragraph="true">on what is once again<br/> the hottest day ever recorded.</p><p class="ArticleParagraph_root__4mszW" data-flatplan-paragraph="true">It is so easy to do nothing<br/> except lament our success</p><p class="ArticleParagraph_root__4mszW" data-flatplan-paragraph="true">at writing useless laments.<br/> I must confess I too</p><p class="ArticleParagraph_root__4mszW" data-flatplan-paragraph="true">once wrote a ridiculous elegy<br/> for a broken nail clipper.</p><p class="ArticleParagraph_root__4mszW" data-flatplan-paragraph="true">I said it caught the light<br/> of a distant star where beings</p><p class="ArticleParagraph_root__4mszW" data-flatplan-paragraph="true">look down on us, disappointed<br/> yet hopeful we will, like poets,</p><p class="ArticleParagraph_root__4mszW" data-flatplan-paragraph="true">put things in the right order<br/> just in time. The clipper</p><p class="ArticleParagraph_root__4mszW" data-flatplan-paragraph="true">emitted a confusing not very<br/> mysterious blue light. Sometimes</p><p class="ArticleParagraph_root__4mszW" data-flatplan-paragraph="true">it seems to me the job of a poet<br/> is mostly to rearrange the deck chairs</p><p class="ArticleParagraph_root__4mszW" data-flatplan-paragraph="true">next to a perfect blue<br/> swimming pool, then in those</p><p class="ArticleParagraph_root__4mszW" data-flatplan-paragraph="true">chairs to doze. In another failed<br/> elegy I described how all day</p><p class="ArticleParagraph_root__4mszW" data-flatplan-paragraph="true">we walked through mist to get<br/> to the exact spot where Dean specified</p><p class="ArticleParagraph_root__4mszW" data-flatplan-paragraph="true">we should disperse his ashes.<br/> It was windy, and we got a lot of him</p><p class="ArticleParagraph_root__4mszW" data-flatplan-paragraph="true">on our hands. In the poem I wrote<br/> he shares the name of a chef</p><p class="ArticleParagraph_root__4mszW" data-flatplan-paragraph="true">at Infinity Hospital, which sounds<br/> like but is not a beautiful lie.</p><p class="ArticleParagraph_root__4mszW" data-flatplan-paragraph="true">Then I wrote, when I imagine how<br/> he must have felt to try to write</p><p class="ArticleParagraph_root__4mszW" data-flatplan-paragraph="true">poems with a new heart<br/> he got from someone younger</p><p class="ArticleParagraph_root__4mszW" data-flatplan-paragraph="true">who died, I feel mine<br/> fill with the echo of replacement,</p><p class="ArticleParagraph_root__4mszW" data-flatplan-paragraph="true">which was not exactly or perhaps<br/> too true. The truth is I walked</p><p class="ArticleParagraph_root__4mszW" data-flatplan-paragraph="true">along through the mist thinking<br/> many boring things, not feeling</p><p class="ArticleParagraph_root__4mszW" data-flatplan-paragraph="true">much of anything except<br/> like stopping. We walked</p><p class="ArticleParagraph_root__4mszW" data-flatplan-paragraph="true">through a field of wildflowers<br/> that left some yellow powder</p><p class="ArticleParagraph_root__4mszW" data-flatplan-paragraph="true">on our shoes. I just wanted<br/> to be home with my wife and son,</p><p class="ArticleParagraph_root__4mszW" data-flatplan-paragraph="true">but the mist really did seem endless.<br/> Unlike death, it was not. We drove</p><p class="ArticleParagraph_root__4mszW" data-flatplan-paragraph="true">slowly through the little town<br/> until we found a place to eat</p><p class="ArticleParagraph_root__4mszW" data-flatplan-paragraph="true">and did not speak of death.<br/> Speaking of speaking of death,</p><p class="ArticleParagraph_root__4mszW" data-flatplan-paragraph="true">Emily Dickinson compared herself<br/> to the little wren because she knew</p><p class="ArticleParagraph_root__4mszW" data-flatplan-paragraph="true">it was small and unremarkable.<br/> It sings the most notes and sometimes</p><p class="ArticleParagraph_root__4mszW" data-flatplan-paragraph="true">will take a ride for a little while<br/> to eternity in the overcoat</p><p class="ArticleParagraph_root__4mszW" data-flatplan-paragraph="true">of a passing stranger.</p><hr class="ArticleLegacyHtml_root__WFd2I ArticleLegacyHtml_standard__kC_zi"/><p class="ArticleParagraph_root__4mszW" data-flatplan-paragraph="true"><small><i>This poem appears in the </i><a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/toc/2024/12/"><i>December 2024</i></a><i> print edition. It</i></small><small><i> has been excerpted from Matthew Zapruder’s collection, </i>I Love Hearing Your Dreams<i>.</i></small></p><gpt-ad class="GptAd_root__pAvcS ArticleInjector_root__I7x9v s-native s-native--standard s-native--streamline" format="injector" sizes-at-0="mobile-wide,native,house" targeting-pos="manual-injector" sizes-at-976="desktop-wide,native,house"></gpt-ad><div class="ArticleInjector_clsAvoider__dqIAm"></div><div class="ArticleBody_divider__GpNxD" id="article-end"></div></section><div data-event-module="footer"><div class="ArticleWell_root__fueCa"><div data-event-module="author footer" class="ArticleFooter_authorFooter__5NsdY"><div class="SectionHeading_root__3GnqT"><h3 class="SectionHeading_heading__iNkek">About the Author</h3></div><div><div class="ArticleBio_root__ua8zj"><address id="article-writer-0" class="ArticleBio_author__6pDyl" data-event-element="author" data-event-position="1" data-flatplan-bio="true"><div class="ArticleBio_content__O0ZVF ArticleBio_noHeadshotContent__RrLmd"><div class="ArticleBio_bioSection__Hef4P"><div data-flatplan-bio="true"><a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/author/matthew-zapruder/" class="author-link" data-label="https://www.theatlantic.com/author/matthew-zapruder/" data-action="click author - name" >Matthew Zapruder</a> is the editor at large at Wave Books and the author, most recently, of <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/12476/9781668059807"><em>I Love Hearing Your Dreams</em></a>.</div></div></div></address></div></div></div></div><div></div></div><gpt-ad class="GptAd_root__pAvcS ArticleInjector_root__I7x9v s-native s-native--standard s-native--streamline" format="injector" sizes-at-0="mobile-wide,native,house" targeting-pos="injector-most-popular" sizes-at-976="desktop-wide,native,house"></gpt-ad><div class="ArticleInjector_clsAvoider__dqIAm"></div></article><div></div></main><div></div><div></div></div></div><script id="__NEXT_DATA__" type="application/json">{"props":{"isLoggedIn":false,"hasPaywallAccess":false,"hasAdFree":false,"pageProps":{"id":"MagazineArticle:680399","isTnfCompatible":true,"layout":"standard","hasMeter":true,"url":"https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2024/12/matthew-zapruder-failed-elegy/680399/","dateModified":"2024-11-17T17:00:56Z","__typename":"MagazineArticle","notFound":false,"urqlState":{"679743956":{"data":"{\"article\":{\"__typename\":\"MagazineArticle\",\"id\":\"MagazineArticle:680399\",\"authors\":[{\"url\":\"https://www.theatlantic.com/author/matthew-zapruder/\",\"displayName\":\"Matthew Zapruder\",\"__typename\":\"Author\",\"id\":\"Author:38914\",\"biography\":{\"default\":\"\u003ca href=\\\"https://www.theatlantic.com/author/matthew-zapruder/\\\" class=\\\"author-link\\\" data-label=\\\"https://www.theatlantic.com/author/matthew-zapruder/\\\" data-action=\\\"click author - name\\\" \u003eMatthew Zapruder\u003c/a\u003e is the editor at large at Wave Books and the author, most recently, of \u003ca href=\\\"https://bookshop.org/a/12476/9781668059807\\\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eI Love Hearing Your Dreams\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/a\u003e.\",\"__typename\":\"Biography\"},\"headshot\":null,\"river\":{\"edges\":[{\"cursor\":\"MjAyNC0xMS0xNyAxMjowMDowMHw2ODAzOTk=\",\"node\":{\"id\":\"MagazineArticle:680399\",\"title\":\"Failed Elegy\",\"url\":\"https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2024/12/matthew-zapruder-failed-elegy/680399/\",\"__typename\":\"MagazineArticle\"},\"__typename\":\"PromoEdge\"}],\"__typename\":\"RiverConnection\"},\"slug\":\"matthew-zapruder\",\"socialMedia\":[{\"platform\":\"TWITTER\",\"url\":\"https://twitter.com/matthewzapruder\",\"__typename\":\"SocialMedia\"}]}],\"authorContext\":\"\",\"pdfUrl\":\"\",\"categories\":[{\"slug\":\"exclude-from-recirc\",\"__typename\":\"Category\"},{\"slug\":\"poem\",\"__typename\":\"Category\"}],\"content\":[{\"__typename\":\"ArticleRelatedContentModule\",\"contentType\":\"MAGAZINE\",\"index\":0},{\"__typename\":\"ArticleParagraphContent\",\"subtype\":null,\"idAttr\":\"\",\"innerHtml\":\"It seems these days\u003cbr/\u003e every poem is a failed elegy\"},{\"__typename\":\"ArticleParagraphContent\",\"subtype\":null,\"idAttr\":\"\",\"innerHtml\":\"for the world. 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I cannot\u003cbr/\u003e deny I often feel anger\"},{\"__typename\":\"ArticleParagraphContent\",\"subtype\":null,\"idAttr\":\"\",\"innerHtml\":\"at the similarities between me\u003cbr/\u003e and an oil company, especially\"},{\"__typename\":\"ArticleParagraphContent\",\"subtype\":null,\"idAttr\":\"\",\"innerHtml\":\"on what is once again\u003cbr/\u003e the hottest day ever recorded.\"},{\"__typename\":\"ArticleParagraphContent\",\"subtype\":null,\"idAttr\":\"\",\"innerHtml\":\"It is so easy to do nothing\u003cbr/\u003e except lament our success\"},{\"__typename\":\"ArticleParagraphContent\",\"subtype\":null,\"idAttr\":\"\",\"innerHtml\":\"at writing useless laments.\u003cbr/\u003e I must confess I too\"},{\"__typename\":\"ArticleParagraphContent\",\"subtype\":null,\"idAttr\":\"\",\"innerHtml\":\"once wrote a ridiculous elegy\u003cbr/\u003e for a broken nail clipper.\"},{\"__typename\":\"ArticleParagraphContent\",\"subtype\":null,\"idAttr\":\"\",\"innerHtml\":\"I said it caught the light\u003cbr/\u003e of a distant star where beings\"},{\"__typename\":\"ArticleParagraphContent\",\"subtype\":null,\"idAttr\":\"\",\"innerHtml\":\"look down on us, disappointed\u003cbr/\u003e yet hopeful we will, like poets,\"},{\"__typename\":\"ArticleParagraphContent\",\"subtype\":null,\"idAttr\":\"\",\"innerHtml\":\"put things in the right order\u003cbr/\u003e just in time. The clipper\"},{\"__typename\":\"ArticleParagraphContent\",\"subtype\":null,\"idAttr\":\"\",\"innerHtml\":\"emitted a confusing not very\u003cbr/\u003e mysterious blue light. Sometimes\"},{\"__typename\":\"ArticleParagraphContent\",\"subtype\":null,\"idAttr\":\"\",\"innerHtml\":\"it seems to me the job of a poet\u003cbr/\u003e is mostly to rearrange the deck chairs\"},{\"__typename\":\"ArticleParagraphContent\",\"subtype\":null,\"idAttr\":\"\",\"innerHtml\":\"next to a perfect blue\u003cbr/\u003e swimming pool, then in those\"},{\"__typename\":\"ArticleParagraphContent\",\"subtype\":null,\"idAttr\":\"\",\"innerHtml\":\"chairs to doze. In another failed\u003cbr/\u003e elegy I described how all day\"},{\"__typename\":\"ArticleParagraphContent\",\"subtype\":null,\"idAttr\":\"\",\"innerHtml\":\"we walked through mist to get\u003cbr/\u003e to the exact spot where Dean specified\"},{\"__typename\":\"ArticleParagraphContent\",\"subtype\":null,\"idAttr\":\"\",\"innerHtml\":\"we should disperse his ashes.\u003cbr/\u003e It was windy, and we got a lot of him\"},{\"__typename\":\"ArticleParagraphContent\",\"subtype\":null,\"idAttr\":\"\",\"innerHtml\":\"on our hands. In the poem I wrote\u003cbr/\u003e he shares the name of a chef\"},{\"__typename\":\"ArticleParagraphContent\",\"subtype\":null,\"idAttr\":\"\",\"innerHtml\":\"at Infinity Hospital, which sounds\u003cbr/\u003e like but is not a beautiful lie.\"},{\"__typename\":\"ArticleParagraphContent\",\"subtype\":null,\"idAttr\":\"\",\"innerHtml\":\"Then I wrote, when I imagine how\u003cbr/\u003e he must have felt to try to write\"},{\"__typename\":\"ArticleParagraphContent\",\"subtype\":null,\"idAttr\":\"\",\"innerHtml\":\"poems with a new heart\u003cbr/\u003e he got from someone younger\"},{\"__typename\":\"ArticleParagraphContent\",\"subtype\":null,\"idAttr\":\"\",\"innerHtml\":\"who died, I feel mine\u003cbr/\u003e fill with the echo of replacement,\"},{\"__typename\":\"ArticleParagraphContent\",\"subtype\":null,\"idAttr\":\"\",\"innerHtml\":\"which was not exactly or perhaps\u003cbr/\u003e too true. The truth is I walked\"},{\"__typename\":\"ArticleParagraphContent\",\"subtype\":null,\"idAttr\":\"\",\"innerHtml\":\"along through the mist thinking\u003cbr/\u003e many boring things, not feeling\"},{\"__typename\":\"ArticleParagraphContent\",\"subtype\":null,\"idAttr\":\"\",\"innerHtml\":\"much of anything except\u003cbr/\u003e like stopping. We walked\"},{\"__typename\":\"ArticleParagraphContent\",\"subtype\":null,\"idAttr\":\"\",\"innerHtml\":\"through a field of wildflowers\u003cbr/\u003e that left some yellow powder\"},{\"__typename\":\"ArticleParagraphContent\",\"subtype\":null,\"idAttr\":\"\",\"innerHtml\":\"on our shoes. I just wanted\u003cbr/\u003e to be home with my wife and son,\"},{\"__typename\":\"ArticleParagraphContent\",\"subtype\":null,\"idAttr\":\"\",\"innerHtml\":\"but the mist really did seem endless.\u003cbr/\u003e Unlike death, it was not. We drove\"},{\"__typename\":\"ArticleParagraphContent\",\"subtype\":null,\"idAttr\":\"\",\"innerHtml\":\"slowly through the little town\u003cbr/\u003e until we found a place to eat\"},{\"__typename\":\"ArticleParagraphContent\",\"subtype\":null,\"idAttr\":\"\",\"innerHtml\":\"and did not speak of death.\u003cbr/\u003e Speaking of speaking of death,\"},{\"__typename\":\"ArticleParagraphContent\",\"subtype\":null,\"idAttr\":\"\",\"innerHtml\":\"Emily Dickinson compared herself\u003cbr/\u003e to the little wren because she knew\"},{\"__typename\":\"ArticleParagraphContent\",\"subtype\":null,\"idAttr\":\"\",\"innerHtml\":\"it was small and unremarkable.\u003cbr/\u003e It sings the most notes and sometimes\"},{\"__typename\":\"ArticleParagraphContent\",\"subtype\":null,\"idAttr\":\"\",\"innerHtml\":\"will take a ride for a little while\u003cbr/\u003e to eternity in the overcoat\"},{\"__typename\":\"ArticleParagraphContent\",\"subtype\":null,\"idAttr\":\"\",\"innerHtml\":\"of a passing stranger.\"},{\"__typename\":\"ArticleLegacyHtml\",\"tagName\":\"HR\",\"idAttr\":\"\",\"className\":\"\",\"style\":\"\",\"innerHtml\":\"\"},{\"__typename\":\"ArticleParagraphContent\",\"subtype\":null,\"idAttr\":\"\",\"innerHtml\":\"\u003csmall\u003e\u003ci\u003eThis poem appears in the \u003c/i\u003e\u003ca data-event-element=\\\"inline link\\\" href=\\\"https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/toc/2024/12/\\\"\u003e\u003ci\u003eDecember 2024\u003c/i\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ci\u003e print edition. 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