Poem a Day: New and classic poems provided by the Academy of American Poets
The Wind Sleepers
H.D.
Whiter
than the crust
left by the tide,
we are stung by the hurled sand
and the broken shells.
We no longer sleep
in the wind –
we awoke and fled
through the city gate.
Tear –
tear us an altar,
tug at the cliff-boulders,
pile them with the rough stones –
we no longer
sleep in the wind,
propitiate us.
Chant in a wail
that never halts,
pace a circle and pay tribute
with a song.
When the roar of a dropped wave
breaks into it,
pour meted words
of sea-hawks and gull
sand sea-birds that cry
discords.
About this poem:“The Wind Sleepers” was originally published in H.D.’s collection “Sea Garden” (Constable and Company LTD, 1916).
About H.D.: H.D. was born in Pennsylvania in 1886. She was awarded a medal from the American Academy of Arts and Letters for her work, which included numerous novels and collections of poetry. She died in Switzerland in July of 1961.
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This poem is in the public domain.
Distributed by King Features Syndicate
