James Arlington Wright is widely recognized as one of America's finest contemporary poets. He was born December 13, 1927 in Martins Ferry, Ohio. He was the second of three sons; Ted, James and Jack. His father, Dudley, was a cutter at Hazel-Atlas Glass in nearby Wheeling, Virginia, where his mother, Jessie, worked at the White Swan Laundry. Both had to leave school in their early teens to work. In 1946, they graduated from high school as valedictorian and joined the United States Army. He trained as an engineer at Fort Lewis, Washington. He served 18 months in the occupying forces in Japan. Upon returning from the army, he enrolled at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio. He earned a master's degree and began working on his doctorate. at the same time he began teaching at the University of Minnesota and later at MacAlester College. He received a Ph.D. from the University of Washington to study Charles Dickens and he gave public readings. He taught at Hunter College in New York from 1966 to 1980. He also worked as a translator. He completed some of his poems while teaching college. He says he felt no conflict between teaching duties and non-academic book writing work. Wright grew up during the Great Depression, which was mentioned in several of his poems. Many of his real-life experiences influenced his writing, including the poem he wrote after his father's death. In 1979, he sought medical attention for his sore throat and discovered tongue cancer which caused his death. He died on March 25, 1980, at the age of 52. Since 1980, the James Wright Poetry Festival has been held annually in Martins Ferry in April as part of honoring the poet's contributions. Last year... in the middle of the paper... in rural Minnesota, they saw two Indian horses in a field. They stopped the car and met the horses. The field was fenced, which he describes as the difference or gap between nature and humans who were also part of nature. The writer states that the horses welcomed him and his friend into their world, he uses personification here. Through this poem, he reveals his feelings when he met these animals. He mentions horses as being kind, shy, loving, and solitary in the poem, qualities usually possessed by humans. The horses seemed excited to have human company. By the end of the poem, the author begins to feel more comfortable in the natural world, on the other side of the barbed wire. Wright has publicly stated that he does not believe in God, so the title – a blessing may refer to his experience on the other side of the fence that he can feel blessed..