T. R. Smith, comp. Poetica Erotica: Rare and Curious Amatory Verse. 1921–22.
The Answer
By Orrick Johns (18871946)(From Asphalt and Other Poems, 1917) |
“CRYING cranes and wheeling crows … | |
I’ll remember them,” she said; | |
And I will be your own, God knows, | |
And the sin be on my head. | |
“I will be your own and glad; | 5 |
Lovers would be fools to care | |
How a thing is good or bad, | |
When the sky is everywhere … | |
“I will be your own,” she said, | |
“Because your voice is like the rain, | 10 |
And your kiss is wine and bread | |
Better than my father’s grain.” | |
So I took her where she spoke. | |
Breasts of snow and burning mouth … | |
Crying cranes and drifting smoke | 15 |
And the blackbirds wheeling south. | |