Section: «Poems»

Verse (ancient Greek ὁ στίχος — row, structure), a term in versification used in several meanings: artistic speech organized by division into rhythmically commensurate segments; poetry in the narrow sense; in particular, it implies the properties of versification of a particular tradition ("antique verse", "Akhmatova's verse", etc.); a line of poetic text organized according to a certain rhythmic pattern ("My uncle of the most honest rules").

Girl In A Cage

HERE in a cage the dollars come down.To the click of a tube the dollars tumble.And out of a mouth the dollars run.I finger the dollars,Paper and..

© Carl Sandburg

Gargoyle

I SAW a mouth jeering. A smile of melted red iron ran over it. Its laugh was fullof nails rattling. It was a child's dream of a mouth.A fist hit the..

© Carl Sandburg

Garden Wireless

HOW many feet ran with sunlight, water, and air?What little devils shaken of laughter, cramming their little ribs with chuckles,Fixed this lone red..

© Carl Sandburg

Galoots

GALOOTS, you hairy, hankering,Snousle on the bones you eat, chew at the gristle and lick the last of it.Grab off the bones in the paws of other..

© Carl Sandburg

From The Shore

A lone gray bird,Dim-dipping, far-flying,Alone in the shadows and grandeurs and tumultsOf night and the seaAnd the stars and storms.Out over the..

© Carl Sandburg

Four Preludes On Playthings Of The Wind

'The past is a bucket of ashes.'1THE WOMAN named To-morrowsits with a hairpin in her teethand takes her timeand does her hair the way she wants itand..

© Carl Sandburg

For You

THE PEACE of great doors be for you.Wait at the knobs, at the panel oblongs.Wait for the great hinges.The peace of great churches be for you,Where..

© Carl Sandburg

Follies

Shaken,The blossoms of lilac,And shattered,The atoms of purple.Green dip the leaves,Darker the bark,Longer the shadows.Sheer lines of poplarShimmer..

© Carl Sandburg

Fog Portrait

RINGS of iron gray smoke; a woman’s steel face … looking … looking.Funnels of an ocean liner negotiating a fog night; pouring a taffy mass down..

© Carl Sandburg

Fog

The fog comeson little cat feet.It sits lookingover harbor and cityon silent haunchesand then moves on.

© Carl Sandburg

Flying Fish

I HAVE lived in many half-worlds myself ... and so I know you.I leaned at a deck rail watching a monotonous sea, the same circling birds andthe same..

© Carl Sandburg

Flux

Sand of the sea runs redWhere the sunset reaches and quivers.Sand of the sea runs yellowWhere the moon slants and wavers.

© Carl Sandburg

Flat Lands

FLAT lands on the end of town where real estate men are crying newsubdivisions,The sunsets pour blood and fire over you hundreds and hundreds of..

© Carl Sandburg

Flash Crimson

I SHALL cry God to give me a broken foot.I shall ask for a scar and a slashed nose.I shall take the last and the worst.I shall be eaten by gray..

© Carl Sandburg

Flanders

Flanders, the name of a place, a country of people,Spells itself with letters, is written in books."Where is Flanders?" was asked one time,Flanders..

© Carl Sandburg

Five Towns On The B. & O.

BY day ... tireless smokestacks ... hungry smoky shanties hanging to the slopes... crooning: We get by, that's all.By night ... all lit up .....

© Carl Sandburg

Five Cent Balloons

PIETRO has twenty red and blue balloons on a string.They flutter and dance pulling Pietro's arm.A nickel apiece is what they sell for.Wishing..

© Carl Sandburg

Fish Crier

I know a Jew fish crier down on Maxwell Street with a voice like a north windblowing over corn stubble in January.He dangles herring before..

© Carl Sandburg

Fire-Logs

Nancy Hanks dreams by the fire;Dreams, and the logs sputter,And the yellow tongues climb.Red lines lick their way in flickers.Oh, sputter, logs.Oh..

© Carl Sandburg

Fire Pages

I will read ashes for you, if you ask me.I will look on the fire and tell you from the gray lashesAnd out of the red and black tongues and stripes,I..

© Carl Sandburg

Fire Dreams

I REMEMBER here by the fire,In the flickering reds and saffrons,They came in a ramshackle tub,Pilgrims in tall hats,Pilgrims of iron jaws,Drifting by..

© Carl Sandburg

Finish

DEATH comes once, let it be easy.Ring one bell for me once, let it go at that.Or ring no bell at all, better yet.Sing one song if I die.Sing John..

© Carl Sandburg

Fight

Red drips from my chin where I have been eating.Not all the blood, nowhere near all, is wiped off my mouth.Clots of red mess my hairAnd the tiger..

© Carl Sandburg

Fellow Citizens

I drank musty ale at the Illinois Athletic Club withthe millionaire manufacturer of Green River butterone nightAnd his face had the shining light of..

© Carl Sandburg

Far Rockaway Night Till Morning

WHAT can we say of the night?The fog night, the moon night, the fog moon night last night?There swept out of the sea a song.There swept out of the..

© Carl Sandburg