Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, SWIMMER, by ALEXANDER KINMAN LAING



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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

SWIMMER, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: His chin cut water
Last Line: Was acheron.
Subject(s): Death; Drowning; Hades; Swimming & Swimmers; Water; Dead, The; Swimmers


His chin cut water
Dry as wind,
As he bathed the body
That had sinned --

The body that sinned,
That had stooped to sup
On flesh, and drink
From a crimson cup.

He bathed his body;
But the stain
Which he washed away
Returned again.

White anger whirled
In his avid mind
At the sins he never
Could leave behind.

He strove to swim
In a frenzied fear,
But made no sound
For the ear to hear.

He strove to swim;
But his shoulders bare
Cut into water
As thin as air.

He paused in terror
And raised his head,
Hearing the moan
Of a million dead:

The moan that rises
When hope is gone.
And he knew the river
Was Acheron.





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