Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, SHEERBA SMOKE, by M. ALEXANDER



Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

SHEERBA SMOKE, by                    
First Line: On a gaudy rug, / to the accompaniment
Last Line: In the heart of a sapphire.
Subject(s): Dancing & Dancers


I.

On a gaudy rug,
To the accompaniment
Of crotali and clarinet,
Half-naked
Little brown-skinned ghawazi,
Dance
The dance of the wasp.

II.

An old Jewess,
With ravaged features
And massive legs,
Beckons to passing men.
Through the lattice windows
Pretty Levantine girls
Are seen
Lounging about.

III.

Spinning round and round,
Moaning and howling
To the shriek and rumble
Of barbaric music,
Fiendish and terrible—
Dervishes dance.

IV.

Boats on the Nile. ...
At sunset they resemble
Butterflies a-tremble on open flowers;
At night,
Sheeted phantoms
In the heart of a sapphire.





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