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The Neighbors
When a man and woman built their house
on the hill behind mine, thus ruining
forever the satisfaction I took
in seeing no house but mine
in any direction,
I felt cheated and bitter.
I live at the foot of the hill,
I thought, and any time they wish,
they can peer into my yard.
But they were peerless people,
most times quiet as the trees
they had not cut, their voices murmurs
in the wind, their jackets flashing
colored wings among the branches.
The woman gave birth to a son,
who calls my name cycling down the road
as though I were his long-lost friend.
So I live at the foot of the hill,
and any bitter man who would climb it,
meaning my neighbors harm,
must first get past me.
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Garret Keizer is the author of The World Pushes Back (Texas Review Press), winner of the 2018 X. J. Kennedy Poetry Prize, and of eight prose books including Getting Schooled, Privacy, and The Unwanted Sound of Everything We Want. His poems have appeared in Harvard Review, The Hudson Review, Raritan, and The New Yorker. He is a Guggenheim Fellow and a contributing editor of Harper’s Magazine and Virginia Quarterly Review.
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What a delight, as we watch--in this overpopulated world--our favorite places erased from what they once were. Thanks for this.
Posted by: Anne Harding Woodworth | February 18, 2024 at 10:43 AM
Oh! I love this. Funny and sweet! And so true!
Having a husband on the local Board of Supervisors, he hears endless complaints about houses being build in views . . .
Posted by: Nin Andrews | February 18, 2024 at 10:46 AM
A truly beautiful poem and sentiment.
Posted by: Abbie Mulvihill | February 18, 2024 at 11:03 AM
Beautiful…And how it is not all about us…me…mine…Thanks Terence and thanks Garret…
Posted by: Sister Leslie | February 18, 2024 at 11:10 AM
What a great ending! Beautiful poem about privacy and connection.
Posted by: Denise Duhamel | February 18, 2024 at 11:14 AM
A remarkable poem! "most times quiet as the trees / they had not cut..." stunning!
I love the clarity, the intelligence--I will certainly look for more work of Garret's. Terence, you made my day with this showing!
Posted by: Don Berger | February 18, 2024 at 11:24 AM
Thanks for the comment, Leslie.
Posted by: Terence Winch | February 18, 2024 at 11:33 AM
Don: glad you liked it.
Posted by: Terence Winch | February 18, 2024 at 11:34 AM
So magnificent. A tiny story with psychological action on a spiral of gold. So grateful for this, I'll find more poems of his.
And let me say, each week I wait for art never seen before and never could imagine.
What a SUNDAY to start and end each week.
Posted by: Grace Cavalieri | February 18, 2024 at 11:47 AM
Forward this to my two neighbours living near in this wild corner of maine.
Posted by: Jody | February 18, 2024 at 11:52 AM
terrific pick and post terence, once again a gem
Posted by: lally | February 18, 2024 at 11:55 AM
Thank you, Grace. What a nice comment.
Posted by: Terence Winch | February 18, 2024 at 12:14 PM
Thank you, mo chara.
Posted by: Terence Winch | February 18, 2024 at 12:16 PM
What a beautiful poem
Posted by: Jennifer O’R | February 18, 2024 at 01:05 PM
I love the turn in this one.
Posted by: Joanna Fuhrman | February 18, 2024 at 01:13 PM
Big-hearted and well-put.
Posted by: Susan Campbell | February 18, 2024 at 02:13 PM
Such a lovely poem and beautiful artwork.
Posted by: Eileen Reich | February 18, 2024 at 02:51 PM
I always like to be reminded that what seems like the worst things often turn out to be the best things.
Thank you Garret and Terence.
Posted by: Doug Pell | February 18, 2024 at 03:31 PM
I like this narrative poem a lot! There is a spiritual quality to it reminiscent of Gary Snyder (or at least that's how I read it). Also, I like the double meaning of "peerless" (i.e., people who wouldn't peer into someone else's house and also "incomparable"). I will be looking up more of Mr. Keizer's work, and thank you again, Terence, for sharing such a thought-provoking poem.
Posted by: Cindy Hcchman | February 18, 2024 at 03:56 PM
Utterly lovely. I feel softened and can almost forgive our neighbors for their endlessly barking dog.
Posted by: Beth Joselow | February 18, 2024 at 05:02 PM
Doug: glad you liked it.
Posted by: Terence Winch | February 18, 2024 at 06:00 PM
Thanks, Cindy. Glad you liked it.
Posted by: Terence Winch | February 18, 2024 at 06:01 PM
A poem for YIMBYs (yes in my back yard)! This powerful poem finds that new neighbors can work out well and be an actual improvement over a human-free view, even for a poet who seems to like his solitude (or is lonely? maybe both). Not always true, I suspect, but it worked out for him.
Posted by: Robert Engelman | February 18, 2024 at 06:23 PM
I love this poem! Thank you Terence.
Posted by: Stacey | February 18, 2024 at 06:25 PM
Stacey: I'm pleased you liked it.
Posted by: Terence Winch | February 18, 2024 at 08:05 PM