Book-Burning
They were convinced, and set about
destroying things
That were not pure. They had no doubt
the fire would
bring
A better world. But soon they found
what is conveyed
In books and manuscripts is bound
together,
laid
Like corner stones. The more they burned,
the more those who
Could still remember sought to learn.
Though they were
few.
Jared Carter’s most recent book, The Land Itself, is from Monongahela Books in Morgantown, West Virginia. His collection of new and selected poems, Darkened Rooms of Summer, is available from the University of Nebraska Press.