Dark spring
July 6, 2023Alone
July 6, 2023By the Road to the Air Base
The calloused grass lies hard
Against the cracking plain:
Life is a grayish stain;
The salt-marsh hems my yard.
Dry dikes rise hill on hill;
In sloughs of tidal slime
Shellfish deposit lime,
Wild seafowl creep at will.
The highway, like a beach,
Turns whiter, shadowy, dry:
Loud, pale against the sky,
The bombing planes hold speech.
Yet fruit grows on the trees;
Here scholars pause to speak;
Through gardens bare and Greek
I hear my neighbor’s bees.
Yvor Winters
Yvor Winters (1900-1968) was an American poet and literary critic who was associated with the conservative literary movement known as the "New Critics." His most famous works include the poetry collection "The Journey" and the critical study "In Defense of Reason." Winters' poetry often dealt with themes of nature, history, and the human experience.