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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
IRRADIATIONS: 31, by JOHN GOULD FLETCHER Poet's Biography
First Line: My stiff-spread arms
Last Line: A golden butterfly glancing against an unflecked wall.
First Line: My stiff-spread arms
Last Line: A golden butterfly glancing against an unflecked wall.
My stiff-spread arms
Break into sudden gesture;
My feet seize upon the rhythm;
My hands drag it upwards:
Thus I create the dance.
I drink of the red bowl of the sunlight:
I swim through seas of rain:
I dig my toes into the earth:
I taste the smack of the wind:
I am myself:
I live.
The temples of the gods are forgotten or in ruins:
Professors are still arguing about the past and the future:
I am sick of reading marginal notes on life,
I am weary of following false banners:
I desire nothing more intensely or completely than this present;
There is nothing about me you are more likely to notice than my being:
Let me therefore rejoice silently,
A golden butterfly glancing against an unflecked wall.
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