Marx G. Sabel. Jeremiad. Harriet Monroe, ed. Poetry: A Magazine of Verse. 1912-22

Harriet Monroe, ed. (1860–1936). Poetry: A Magazine of Verse. 1912–22.

Jeremiad

By Marx G. Sabel


From “Annotations” WHAT avail are these days?
The days come and the days go,
Limping like old men
Over an uneven pathway.

Day follows day,	5
And each day
Falls over my last memory of you
Like a thin white sheet
Over a dead body.
Day after day—	10
Sheet upon sheet—
Until now I cannot see
The lines of the dead body underneath.

What avail are these nights?
The nights come and the nights go,	15
Shambling like heavy negresses
Walking down a steep path
With overflowing baskets on their heads.

Night follows night,
And each night	20
Falls over my last memory of you,
Like a heavy black sheet over a dead body.
Night follows night,
Sheet falls upon sheet,
Until now I cannot see	25
The lines of the dead body underneath.
What avail are these days
And these nights,
These halt men, and these
Cumbersome negresses burdened with baskets?	30
Day after day,
Night after night,
Sheet upon sheet,
Black on white,
Falling over a dead body,	35
Covering a dead body,
Falling upon and covering my memory of you.