Man in the Street or Hand Over Mouth by Heather McHugh

He claps a hand
Across the gaping hole—

Or else the sight might
Well inside to

Melt the mind—if any
Thinking spoke

Were in the wheel,
Or any real

Fright-fragments broke
Out of the gorge to

Soak the breast, the meaning
Might incite a stroke—best

Press against it, close
The clawhole, stand

In stupor, petrified. The dream
Be damned, the deeps defied.

The hand’s to keep
The scream inside.

From: https://poetryarchive.org/poem/man-street/

Date: 2006

By: Heather McHugh (1948- )

Tags: 2006, he claps a hand, heather mchugh, man in the street or hand over mouth, poetry