James Wright: "Today I Was So Happy, So I Made This Poem"

As the plump squirrel scampers
Across the roof of the corncrib,
The moon suddenly stands up in the darkness,
And I see that it is impossible to die.
Each moment of time is a mountain.
An eagle rejoices in the oak trees of heaven,
Crying
This is what I wanted.

"Today I Was So Happy, So I Made This Poem" by James Wright, from The Branch Will Not Break. © Wesleyan University Press, 1963.

Photograph: "Moonrise Over a Barn," by Mike Coll, 2003 (originally black and white).