Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, BRAVADO, by CALE YOUNG RICE



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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

BRAVADO, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: When I am put to bed by death
Last Line: Senselessness to any thrust.
Subject(s): Death; Dirt; Graves; Dead, The; Tombs; Tombstones


When I am put to bed by death
And tucked in by the grave-digger
Under a blanket of red clay,
As big as I or a little bigger,
I shall find the means to walk --
If means are -- through rocks and rivers,
And listening to the atoms talk
Cull some wisdom from their quivers.
I shall ply the mole with queries,
Ask of the blind earth-worm the way.
From queer bony fossil-series
Learn if life has gone astray.
Learn if up is better than down,
If ascent has any meaning;
If the ant-hill or the town
Is the aim toward which Time's leaning.
I shall have great whiles as spirit,
If I'm that; if not as dust,
Which at least has this merit:
Senselessness to any thrust.





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