Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, IN A BREATH; TO THE WILLIAMSON BROTHERS, by CARL SANDBURG



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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

IN A BREATH; TO THE WILLIAMSON BROTHERS, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: High noon. White sun flashes on the michigan avenue
Last Line: Trapsing along in flimsy clothes, play of sun-fire in their blood.
Subject(s): Chicago


HIGH noon. White sun flashes on the Michigan Avenue asphalt. Drum of hoofs and whirr of motors.
Women trapsing along in flimsy clothes catching play of sun-fire to their skin and eyes.

Inside the playhouse are movies from under the sea. From the heat of pavements and the dust of
sidewalks, passers-by go in a breath to be witnesses of large cool sponges, large cool fishes,
large cool valleys and ridges of coral spread silent in the soak of the ocean floor thousands
of years.

A naked swimmer dives. A knife in his right hand shoots a streak at the throat of a shark. The
tail of the shark lashes. One swing would kill the swimmer. . . Soon the knife goes into the
soft under-neck of the veering fish. . . Its mouthful of teeth, tooth a dagger itself, set row
on row, glistens when the shuddering, yawning cadaver is hauled up by the brothers of the
swimmer.

Outside in the street is the murmur and singing of life in the sun -- horses, motors, women
trapsing along in flimsy clothes, play of sun-fire in their blood.





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