Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

A ROOF IS GOOD by MARY CRUMP BOULDIN

First Line: WHEN YOU SPEAK OF THE OPEN SPACE
Last Line: OF REALITY.
Subject(s): IRONY;
When you speak of the open space
Of vaulted blue air, thin and far,
And high hanging branches' green lace,
And the infinite shelter of a star,
I cannot follow.

When you tell that for your pillow
You rested on sweet slanting grass
And yard on yard of fleecy billow
Did every dainty coverlet surpass,
I have no response.

When you say the gentle night wind
Tangles with opiate fingers
The gold of your hair unconfined
And is a lover who near you lingers,
Still I am silent.

For a roof's good above my head
And people and things are my delight;
The love of heart and heart will thread
A warmer pattern 'gainst the night
Of reality.



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