Monday, September 15, 2014

Poem of the Day: Black Horizons by Carl Sandburg

Black Horizons
Carl Sandburg, 1878 - 1967

Black horizons, come up.
Black horizons, kiss me.
That is all; so many lies; killing so cheap;
babies so cheap; blood, people so cheap; and
land high, land dear; a speck of the earth
costs; a suck at the tit of Mother Dirt so
clean and strong, it costs; fences, papers,
sheriffs; fences, laws, guns; and so many
stars and so few hours to dream; such a big
song and so little a footing to stand and
sing; take a look; wars to come; red rivers
to cross.
Black horizons, come up.
Black horizons, kiss me.





Published in 1924.  As I read this I thought, ‘ My God, my God, a poem 90 years old and still speaks to this very day, this immediate minute.’  We are such a poor, wretched race that can never find a way to stop shedding these rivers of blood.

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