One of my favorite poems is by Todd Bass.
I have reprinted his “One Can Miss Mountains” here
from The New Yorker Magazine of May 8, 2008.
It never ceases to move and amaze me.
I love reading it out loud.
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.
by Todd Boss
The Writer's Village 