Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, GRIME, by ANNE HARLEY AVILA


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

GRIME, by                    
First Line: You might have paled bernhardt's camille
Last Line: Is grime.
Subject(s): Cleanliness


You might have paled Bernhardt's Camille
Or Shakespeare's greenwood tree,
Drowned out Shelly's skylark or
The Chimes of Normandy.

But you are beating parlor rugs
And scraping kitchen soot,
And washing window glass with grime
Bound to you hand and foot.

You might have walked in marble courts,
Stood under frescoed domes;
You might have climbed the Eiffel Tower
And plumbed the catacombs.

But you are bandaging stubbed toes
And poulticing bee stings,
And drying smudgy tears with grime
Tied to your apron strings.

And if it should touch your lips
More bright than any chime,
Or lark or flower or greenwood tree
Is grime.





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