Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


PINNACLE OF WONDER by GRADY MCCARTY LONG

First Line: REMEMBER HOW THE SILVER BURNISHED RIVER
Last Line: A BABY'S PEACEFUL SLEEP, A LOVER'S ARMS.

Remember how the silver burnished river
Coiled around the mountain's basic cliff,
A single speck of black that was a-quiver
You told me was a little fisher skiff?
The moon was like a foamy ballet dancer
With clouds of tulle afloat about her knees;
Desire for you gnawed in me like a cancer
When I saw your face by moonlight through the trees.
While we paused on this pinnacle of wonder
The land about us wrapped in heavy sleep,
With perfect love, our hearts were cut asunder
Because we held what mortals may not keep
Within their hands; the whole of heaven's charms;
A baby's peaceful sleep, a lover's arms.



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