Homage to Robert Creeley

What I thought
was a fly on the window was
A knot on the branch outside

Near it a real fly sat
Quiet in the sun

Wind rocked all the branches the fly
sat still

Credit

“Homage to Robert Creeley” from The Collected Poems of Philip Whalen.
© 2007 by Philip Whalen. Published by Wesleyan University Press.
Used by permission.

Author

Philip Whalen

Philip Glenn Whalen was born in Portland, Oregon, on October 20, 1923. He served in the U.S. Army from 1943–46 and attended Reed College on the G.I. Bill. While at Reed, Whalen developed interests in Asian philosophy and poetry. He also befriended fellow students and future poets Gary Snyder and Lew Welch. Whalen graduated with a BA in 1951.

Date Published

01/01/2007