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James Tate

James Tate was born in Kansas City, Missouri, December 8, 1943. His father, a World War II pilot, died in combat when Tate was five months old. Tate’s poem "The Lost Pilot," the title poem of his first

Stray Animals

by James Tate (1943–2015)

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15

 This is the beauty of being alone 
 toward the end of summer: 
 a dozen stray animals asleep on the porch 
 in the shade of my feet, 
 and the smell of leaves burning 
 in another neighborhood. 
 It is late morning, 
 and my forehead is alive with shadows, 
 some bats rock back and forth 

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