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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


CALIFORNIA COAST by DORIS CALDWELL

First Line: NOT IN SMALL PAINTED TOWNS WHOSE COLOR RIPS
Last Line: AND LOST WINGS CIRCLING NEAR A GHOST-WHITE STAR.
Subject(s): CALIFORNIA; SEASHORE; BEACH; COAST; SHORE;

Not in small painted towns whose color rips
The solitude of shores kelp-strung and gray,
Not in La Jolla, Carmel, Monterey,
Your beauty lies -- minxes with rouge-smeared lips;
Not along wharf lines where a city dips
Its dainty fingers in the pile-split spray --
San Pedro, Newport, San Francisco Bay --
Scumming the water with the bilge of ships:
Yours is a torn and wistful beauty, born
On lonely beaches when the tide is low --
Fog tangles in the marsh-grass... a forlorn
Blue heron wading in the afterglow...
Dull silver lapping on a wet sand-bar...
And lost wings circling near a ghost-white star.



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