Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

CIVILIZED by BEULA CHAMBERLAIN

First Line: DIRTY AND DULL, SHE PLODS ALONG THE STREET
Last Line: AND STOPS BEFORE THE MOVING-PICTURE SHOWS.
Subject(s): BEGGING & BEGGARS;
Dirty and dull, she plods along the street
With sagging skirts and hair tucked out of sight.
Her pappoose, from his creaking cab, looks out
Upon the hurrying crowd; his eyes, wild, bright,
Hold tales of campfire dreams, of forest things,
Of bending pines that whisper all the night.

He cries a bit. The mother stills his cries
With sticky colored candy, smooths his clothes.
She peers for bargains as she passes by
And stops before the moving-picture shows.



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