Stephen Dunn

Stephen Dunn is the author of fifteen collections of poetry, including Different Hours (Norton, 2000), which received the Pulitzer Prize in 2001. He has received a Guggenheim Fellowship and three NEA Fellowships in Literature, as well as an Academy Award in Literature. His newest book is Lines of Defense (Norton, 2014). Dunn has taught at several institutions, most recently Richard Stockton College of New Jersey.  "Circular" originally appeared in Shenandoah 52/3.

Circular

Daylight illuminated, but only for those who had some knowing in their seeing, and night fell for everyone, but harder for some. A belief in happiness bred despair, though despair could be assuaged by belief, which required faith, which made … Continue reading