I WANTED a man's face looking into the jaws and throat of life With something proud on his face, so proud no smash of the jaws, No gulp of the throat leaves the face in the end With anything else than the old proud look: Even to the finish, dumped in the dust, Lost among the used-up cinders, This face, men would say, is a flash, Is laid on bones taken from the ribs of the earth, Ready for the hammers of changing, changing years, Ready for the sleeping, sleeping years of silence. Ready for the dust and fire and wind. I wanted this face and I saw it today in an Aztec mask. A cry out of storm and dark, a red yell and a purple prayer, A beaten shape of ashes waiting the sunrise or night, something or nothing, proud-mouthed, proud-eyed gambler. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...RORY O'MORE; OR, ALL FOR GOOD LUCK by SAMUEL LOVER MOST LOVELY SHADE; FOR ALICE BOUVERIE by EDITH SITWELL UPON WEDLOCK, AND DEATH OF CHILDREN by EDWARD TAYLOR SKIPPER IRESON'S RIDE by JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER TITA'S TEARS; A FANTASY by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH POLYHYMNIA: L'ENVOY by WILLIAM BASSE |