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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
ARIZONA POEMS: 3. CLIFF-DWELLING, by JOHN GOULD FLETCHER Poet's Biography
First Line: The canyon is choked with stones and undergrowth
Last Line: A clock that ticks the centuries off to silence.
First Line: The canyon is choked with stones and undergrowth
Last Line: A clock that ticks the centuries off to silence.
The canyon is choked with stones and undergrowth;
The heat that falls from the sky
Beats at the walls, slides, and reverberates
Down in a wave of grey dust and white fire:
Stinging the mouth and eyes.
The ponies struggle and scramble,
Half way up, along the canyon wall;
Their listless riders seldom lift
A weary hand to guide their feet;
Stones are loosened and clatter
Down to the sunbaked depths.
Nothing has ever lived here,
Nothing could ever live here;
Two hawks, screaming and wheeling,
Rouse the eyes to look aloft.
Boldly poised in a shelf of the stone,
Tiny walls peer down on us;
Towers with little square windows.
When we plod up to them,
And dismounting, fasten our horses;
Suddenly a blue-grey flock of doves,
Burst in a flutter of wings from the shadows.
Shards of pots and shreds of straw,
Empty brush-roofed rooms in darkness;
And the sound of water tinkling,
A clock that ticks the centuries off to silence.
Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!
Other Poems of Interest...
ARIZONA POEMS: 4. THE WINDMILLS by JOHN GOULD FLETCHER
ARIZONA POEMS: 6. RAIN IN THE DESERT by JOHN GOULD FLETCHER
DOWN THE MISSISSIPPI: 1. EMBARKATION by JOHN GOULD FLETCHER
DOWN THE MISSISSIPPI: 2. HEAT by JOHN GOULD FLETCHER
DOWN THE MISSISSIPPI: 3. FULL MOON by JOHN GOULD FLETCHER
DOWN THE MISSISSIPPI: 4. THE MOON'S ORCHESTRA by JOHN GOULD FLETCHER
DOWN THE MISSISSIPPI: 5. THE STEVEDORES by JOHN GOULD FLETCHER
DOWN THE MISSISSIPPI: 6. NIGHT LANDING by JOHN GOULD FLETCHER
DOWN THE MISSISSIPPI: 7. THE SILENCE by JOHN GOULD FLETCHER
GREEN SYMPHONY by JOHN GOULD FLETCHER