Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, ROCKS, by NATALIE M. HANCOCK


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

ROCKS, by                    
First Line: Rocks - hoary with age - bearded with barnacles - crouching low
Last Line: Is it the music of god, turning life's pages?
Subject(s): Sea; Stones; Tides; Ocean; Granite; Rocks


Rocks—hoary with age—bearded with barnacles—crouching low—
What have you seen in the ebb and the flow
Of the tireless sea, aeons ago?
Who tossed you high above the reach of the tide,
And bade you abide
Patiently waiting? Waves saucily tease your ancient toes—
And leap upon your conquering shoulders
That have breasted the storm's merciless blows—
Swift currents swirling,
Ceaselessly whirling
Against your moveless granite boulders.
Rocks—mute and imponderable—on your weed-encrusted side
Strange forms of the sea
Cling uncertainly.
Scuttling crabs in your shelter hide—
Even I, upon your great lap
Feel your strength wrap
Me with comforting warmth—close do you hold me,
Hard though your surface, I let you enfold me—
Drowsily yielding, I hear the refrain,
Clearly and plain
Of wind ripples, wave rushes—
Sea-splashings—night hushes—
The systole and dystole of countless ages.
Is it the music of God, turning life's pages?





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