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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
TURTLE, by VINCENT STARRETT Poet's Biography
First Line: Queer, tessellated, tardy snuff-box, you
Last Line: I have met turtles all along the way.
Subject(s): Turtles; Tortoises
First Line: Queer, tessellated, tardy snuff-box, you
Last Line: I have met turtles all along the way.
Subject(s): Turtles; Tortoises
Queer, tessellated, tardy snuff-box, you,
Hillocked with mud, and slippery with slime;
There is the dreadful certainty of time
In your unhurried saunter -- Wandering Jew!
I can believe you on an ageless quest,
Lurching across the ocean's cozy floor --
But, of what God are you ambassador?
And to what dismal shrine are you addressed?
Still you are blind to all save wet and gloom,
Maugre your leisured march through centuries --
Dwelling perhaps in more than seven seas,
Impotent yet, within your living tomb.
In my brief venture between walls of clay,
I have met turtles all along the way.
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Other Poems of Interest...
GIANT TORTOISE by ANTHONY HECHT
THE TURTLE SHRINE NEAR CHITTAGONG by NAOMI SHIHAB NYE
THE PHOENIX AND THE TORTOISE by KENNETH REXROTH
CLOSING TIME AT THE SAN DIEGO ZOO by KAREN SWENSON