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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE HAVEN by JOHN C. ADLER

First Line: THE LIFE OF A LITTLE CHILD IS NEW
Last Line: AND A BACKWARD TURN OF HIS EYES.
Subject(s): CHILDREN; CHILDHOOD;
The life of a little child is new
To the parent, but old to the earth;
From sprouting cells and blood it grew
Toward the orifice of birth.

It is one of a caravan of pain,
And a long flotilla of fear;
But the mouth will open and give again,
The blood and the cells reappear.

The stretched and staggering line will give
Till the sun grows cold and small;
For man is gray with the lust to live,
And leashed to the rhythmic call.

Roll on, roll on, like the earth and moon,
To the banded girth of the grave;
Till the cell shall break and the blood shall swoon,
And the cyclical heart shall cave;

Then and then only shall Time begin,
And the promised dawn arise;
For each child is a haven a man may win,
And a backward turn of his eyes.



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