On the Last Day
by George Moore
after João Cabral de Melo Neto
On the last day of the world
I’ll walk the dog along the shore
and we’ll notice the little things
grains of sand glistening in the moonlight
all the smells he knows so well
and we’ll not worry about Columbus
misreading the roundness of the world
or Cortez the worship of horses
or Khan where to hide himself
when the world is gone
Something will be going on
somewhere
and we’ll feast in the honor of mornings
with the traditional toast and jam
George Moore’s poetry has appeared in The Atlantic, Poetry, North American Review, Colorado Review, Arc and Stand. His recent collections are Children’s Drawings of the Universe (Salmon Poetry 2015) and Saint Agnes Outside the Walls (FutureCycle 2016). A finalist for The National Poetry Series and nominated for eight Pushcart Prizes, he has taught literature and writing at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and now lives on the south shore of Nova Scotia.