I took my longing up a cliff, All alone, I looked on the sea -- The surf, spread out like fans of lace Rustled a soft sound up to me, A gentle sound like sliding beads, And wind hummed over the weeds. Long and long ago a cliff Lovers out of luck would leap, And fall to cool their hearts like stones, Or break like waves and fall asleep. The sea now is the same, I knew, And any cliff, I thought, would do. I laid down my frock and frills, I took gold pins from my hair, And tip-toed to the tasselled edge, Whispering a prayer, That nothing else of me but foam Should remain to carry home. I was a curve of flame in the air! I was a coal that scorched the sea! The spray went up in a steamy cloud, High and hissing over me, And my body slid out of the blue, Polished and clean and new. I shook the bitterness from my eyes, I laughed that I was alive! So now I know I can dare to love As long as I love to dive And I am not the one to weep, While there are cliffs to leap. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...CONTRA MORTEM: THE ECSTASY by HAYDEN CARRUTH THE UNCERTAINTY PRINCIPLE by JAMES GALVIN POSSUM SONG (A WARNING) by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON THE DAY AND THE WORK by EDWIN MARKHAM SANDHILL PEOPLE by CARL SANDBURG |