"Poetry Is a Destructive Force" That's what misery is, Nothing to have at heart. It is to have or nothing. It is a thing to have, A lion, an ox in … - Wallace Stevens

"Poetry Is a Destructive Force"

That's what misery is,
Nothing to have at heart.
It is to have or nothing.

It is a thing to have,
A lion, an ox in his breast,
To feel it breathing there.

Corazon, stout dog,
Young ox, bow-legged bear,
He tastes its blood, not spit.

He is like a man
In the body of a violent beast.
Its muscles are his own . . .

The lion sleeps in the sun.
Its nose is on its paws.
It can kill a man.