Galway Kinnell's "Hide-and-Seek, 1933," reads as stark and beautiful as haiku. It concerns a young boy whose playmates have given up on the game before it's finished and have returned home. "I remained hidden as a matter/of honor until the moon rose." It's unclear if the boy is honoring the moon or the gentleman's rules of the game but lyrically it works both ways. He is the shaman whose good manners bring about the moonrise. He is perhaps the last of his generation to combine respect for nature with love of morals. He is witness.
"Hide-and-Seek, 1933,"
The Best American Poetry 2007
