The air is colder than the light in the air
No fog no smoke but the light hangs on the air
Like fog like smoke I’m walking to the bakery
On Amsterdam across from the cathedral
A middle-aged man wearing a tweed cap and
A limp blue Members Only jacket passes me
And a black face mask with a white skull
Printed on it but death is a professor everywhere
What have you learned he asks
What do you know
The Professor
Shane McCrae
Shane McCrae’s most recent books of poetry are The Many Hundreds of the Scent and New and Collected Hell, which will be published in February 2025. His memoir, Pulling the Chariot of the Sun, was published in 2023. He lives in New York City and teaches at Columbia University.