Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, WHITE SMOKE, by FLORA SHUFELT RIVOLA


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WHITE SMOKE, by            
First Line: Our fathers twisted hay for fuel; their sons now twist their / lives
Last Line: High dreams are dead and life will have its fire.
Subject(s): Hope; Life; Parents; Optimism; Parenthood


Our fathers twisted hay for fuel; their sons now twist their lives;
They burn them in the cook-stove of desire.
What will you? Life must have its warmth,—some little loaf to eat;
High dreams are dead and life will have its fire.

I see my mother's sunburned face,
She sings life's hurt away;
Laughs with her hard-born brood, who help
Her twist long slough-grass hay.

I see the even, scented twists
Piled for the prairie night;
My mother kneels there, seeking out
Prayer trails the weakest might.

Strong dreams are subtle things; they live
On high—hearts' fire-brewed fare.
Can this brave day find out anew
The steel and flint of prayer?

O, prairie dreams of homes-to-be,
What have we builded? Why?
Where are the dreams that used to lift
White smoke arms to the sky?

Our fathers twisted hay for fuel; their sons now twist their lives;
They burn them in the cook-stove of desire.
What will you? Life must have its warmth,—some little loaf to eat;
High dreams are dead and life will have its fire.





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