Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, SHANGHAI INSECT MARKET, by CLYDE EDGAR KEELER



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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

SHANGHAI INSECT MARKET, by                    
First Line: Over there let us stop / at the insect mart
Last Line: A hollow ball to house two great green katydids.
Subject(s): Insects; Bugs


Over there let us stop,
At the insect mart before us
With its shrill and chirping chorus;
A noisy greeting,
So defeating
The holy silence of the idol maker's shop.

Do we dare go in?
See the insects all vibrating
In their cages while awaiting
Someone to buy them
And tie them
Aloft to cheer a whole family with their merry din!

In the midst of this nest
With no thought of upper cover
Sits the wife whose children hover
Through all her scolding,
While she's holding
The naked infant nursing on her pendant breast.

"Come in!" a man bids,
And it's almost past believing
How his fingers fly in weaving,
From a mat that's gaping,
Quickly shaping
A hollow ball to house two great green katydids.





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