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“Driving to Town Late to Mail a Letter” by Robert Bly
Poetry 180: A Poem a Day for American High Schools, Hosted by Billy Collins, U.S. Poet Laureate, 2001-2003

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Driving to Town Late to Mail a Letter

It is a cold and snowy night. The main street is deserted.
The only things moving are swirls of snow.
As I lift the mailbox door, I feel its cold iron.
There is a privacy I love in this snowy night.
Driving around, I will waste more time.

—Robert Bly

from Silence in the Snowy Fields, 1953
Wesleyan University Press, Middletown, Conn.

Copyright 1962 by Robert Bly.
All rights reserved.

Reprinted by permission of Wesleyan University Press from Silence in the Snowy Fields. Copyright 192 by Robert Bly. For further permissions information, contact Tom Radko, Director, Wesleyan University Press, [email protected]

Poetry 180

About the Poet

Robert Bly (1926- ) is the author of over thirty poetry collections, including Like the New Moon I will Live my Life (White Pine Press, 2015).

Learn more about Robert Bly at The Poetry Foundation.