Larry Levis’s “The Oldest Living Thing in L.A.”
January 28th, 2008Save as PDF
This poem is a good example of poetry doing a small thing so much better than prose could. A possum tries to cross a busy L.A. intersection: the raw ingredient for a "Metropolitan Diary" piece in the N.Y. Times. In the hands of Larry Levis, this minor urban vignette takes on the weight of history, prehistory, and our nightmare fears, while never losing its sense of humor.
The Oldest Living
Thing in L.A.
By Larry Levis
At Wilshire & Santa Monica I saw an opossum
Trying to cross the street. It was late, the street
Was brightly lit, the opossum would take
A few steps forward, then back away from the breath
Of moving traffic. People coming out of the bars
Would approach, as if to help it somehow.
It would lift its black lips & show them
The reddened gums, the long rows of incisors,
Teeth that went all the way back beyond
The flames of Troy & Carthage, beyond sheep
Grazing rock-strewn hills, fragments of ruins
In the grass at San Vitale. It would back away
Delicately & smoothly, stepping carefully
As it always had. It could mangle someone’s hand
In twenty seconds. Mangle it for good. It could
Sever it completely from the wrist in forty.
There was nothing to be done for it. Someone
Or other probably called LAPD, who then
Called Animal Control, who woke a driver, who
Then dressed in mailed gloves, the kind of thing
Small knights once wore into battle, who gathered
Together his pole with a noose on the end,
A light steel net to snare it with, someone who hoped
The thing would have vanished by the time he got there.
January 30th, 2008 at 12:58 pm e
Oddly enough, I also once wrote a poem about a possum. I came home late one night, and there was a possum walking in circles in my ally. Over and over again, a circle with a radius of about 6 feet. He completely ignored me, intent on his process.
Where that poem went, I don’t know. I don’t know where the possum went, either.
January 30th, 2008 at 6:03 pm e
Marvelous!
February 11th, 2008 at 1:02 pm e
Enjoying the blog.
Have a good time in New Zealand!!!!
November 12th, 2008 at 7:45 pm e
i0r0c6goi978knev
December 6th, 2009 at 4:13 pm e
I have to memorize this poem for english class.
December 6th, 2009 at 6:20 pm e
I love pie
December 6th, 2009 at 6:30 pm e
I like this poem.
me being in movies doesn’t make me happy, but poetry does.
December 6th, 2009 at 6:42 pm e
I like this poem because it’s poop
:
December 15th, 2010 at 9:29 pm e
I agree with the post above and I will get more information from google.
July 20th, 2011 at 5:20 pm e
Hello! ekegbkf interesting ekegbkf site!
August 13th, 2011 at 12:43 pm e
Fell out of bed felenig down. This has brightened my day!
August 14th, 2011 at 5:49 am e
lxGgTO okpuoqjgcret
September 3rd, 2011 at 1:22 am e
Ugg boots are welll know Traditional Brief UGG Bootsplanet-wide,as it maintain your feet so warm in winter season and so comfortable to use,so many people love it.Ugg boots have numerous variations,this kind of as ugg traditional tall,ugg classic short,ugg bailey buttonTraditional Style Ladies UGG Boots,they are so well-known amid folks,absolutely everyone like it,every person want to have it.Why do you get a single good top qualityTraditional Ultra Brief UGG Boots ugg boots.
September 21st, 2011 at 11:06 am e
I’m just freshman here.Appreciate give your point or thought.
September 22nd, 2011 at 6:35 pm e
“A kiss is a rosy dot over the ‘i’ of loving.” ~ ” Cyrano de Bergerac
October 12th, 2011 at 7:57 pm e
I simply want to mention I am just very new to blogging and site-building and really loved you’re web page. Most likely I’m planning to bookmark your blog . You certainly have remarkable articles. Many thanks for sharing your website page.
October 14th, 2011 at 11:57 pm e
A lot of the things you point out is astonishingly precise and it makes me ponder why I hadn’t looked at this in this light before. This particular piece really did turn the light on for me as far as this specific topic goes. Nonetheless there is actually just one position I am not really too comfortable with so whilst I make an effort to reconcile that with the core theme of your point, let me see just what all the rest of your readers have to say.Very well done.
October 15th, 2011 at 9:52 am e
An exciting discussion is couturier mention. I expect that you should create writer on this message, it power not be a sacred subordinate but mostly people are not sufficiency to speak on specified topics. To the next. Cheers like your The Millennial Pedestrian » Blog Archive » Larry Levis’s “The Oldest Living Thing in L.A.”.
November 10th, 2011 at 4:15 am e
Would you be taken with exchanging links?
November 14th, 2011 at 9:45 pm e
found your site on del.icio.us today and really liked it.. i bookmarked it and will be back to check it out some more later ..
January 13th, 2012 at 4:23 am e
Thanks , I’ve recently been looking for info approximately this topic for ages and yours is the best I have came upon till now. But, what concerning the bottom line? Are you sure about the supply?
January 16th, 2012 at 1:05 am e
This is a very good tips especially to those new to blogosphere, brief and accurate information… Cheers for sharing this one. A must read article.
January 25th, 2012 at 2:44 am e
I appreciate, cause I found exactly what I was looking for. You have ended my 4 day long hunt! God Bless you man. Have a nice day. Bye
January 31st, 2012 at 12:15 pm e
Whats up there administrator, I just desired to leave a short comment to actually admit that in fact I loved your particular information. Thanks!