Harriet Monroe, ed. (1860–1936). The New Poetry: An Anthology. 1917.
On the Acequia MadreAlice Corbin
From “Red Earth”
D
He is such a distinguished visitor
Everyone is overcome by his presence—
“Will you not sit down—take a chair?”
But Death stands in the doorway, waiting to depart;
He lingers like a breath in the curtains.
The whole neighborhood comes to do him honor,
Women in black shawls and men in black sombreros
Sitting motionless against white-washed walls;
And the old man with the grey stubby beard
To whom death came,
Is stunned into silence.
Death is such a distinguished visitor,
Making even old flesh important.