82. The Year. Sandburg, Carl. 1918. Cornhuskers

Carl Sandburg (1878–1967). Cornhuskers. 1918.

82. The Year


I A STORM of white petals,
Buds throwing open baby fists
Into hands of broad flowers.

II Red roses running upward,
Clambering to the clutches of life	5
Soaked in crimson.

III Rabbles of tattered leaves
Holding golden flimsy hopes
Against the tramplings
Into the pits and gullies.	10

IV Hoarfrost and silence:
Only the muffling
Of winds dark and lonesome—
Great lullabies to the long sleepers.