Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, SONGS FOR A WINTER FIRE: 2. JUST WHY, by CALE YOUNG RICE



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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

SONGS FOR A WINTER FIRE: 2. JUST WHY, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Just why the wind more sadly blows
Last Line: Believe what I will of naked trees.
Subject(s): Trees; Wind; Winter


Just why the wind more sadly blows
Through naked trees, I mean some day
To ask the winter-throated crows --
And that will prove but folly.
For crows won't even tell a man
When cold is coming, or a long span
Of snow and ice so deep and thick
That down on the very bed of the crick
The poor pent fish must burrow in mud --
Or do without a livelihood.
Or I will take the other way
And hear what the ash and elm say
About the matter; and they can't tell.
Each will merely say that it grieves
Because its limbs are orphaned of leaves;
And since nobody in need of ruth
Ever tells more than half the truth
About himself, that won't suffice.
So nothing's for it in the end
But just to make of the wind a friend --
And if his answer does not please
Believe what I will of naked trees.





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