Get Your Premium Membership

Best Famous Sweating Bullets Poems

Here is a collection of the all-time best famous Sweating Bullets poems. This is a select list of the best famous Sweating Bullets poetry. Reading, writing, and enjoying famous Sweating Bullets poetry (as well as classical and contemporary poems) is a great past time. These top poems are the best examples of sweating bullets poems.

Search and read the best famous Sweating Bullets poems, articles about Sweating Bullets poems, poetry blogs, or anything else Sweating Bullets poem related using the PoetrySoup search engine at the top of the page.

See Also:
Written by William Matthews | Create an image from this poem

A Poetry Reading At West Point

 I read to the entire plebe class,
in two batches. Twice the hall filled
with bodies dressed alike, each toting
a copy of my book. What would my
shrink say, if I had one, about
such a dream, if it were a dream?

Question and answer time.
"Sir," a cadet yelled from the balcony,
and gave his name and rank, and then,
closing his parentheses, yelled
"Sir" again. "Why do your poems give
me a headache when I try

to understand them?" he asked. "Do
you want that?" I have a gift for
gentle jokes to defuse tension,
but this was not the time to use it.
"I try to write as well as I can
what it feels like to be human,"

I started, picking my way care-
fully, for he and I were, after
all, pained by the same dumb longings.
"I try to say what I don't know
how to say, but of course I can't
get much of it down at all."

By now I was sweating bullets.
"I don't want my poems to be hard,
unless the truth is, if there is
a truth." Silence hung in the hall
like a heavy fabric. My own
head ached. "Sir," he yelled. "Thank you. Sir."



Book: Radiant Verses: A Journey Through Inspiring Poetry