Altitude
Lola Ridge
I wonder
how it would be here with you,
where the wind
that has shaken off its dust in low valleys
touches one cleanly,
as with a new-washed hand,
and pain
is as the remote hunger of droning things,
and anger
but a little silence
sinking into the great silence.
About this poem
“Altitude” was published in Lola Ridge’s book “Sun-up and Other Poems” (B.W. Huebsch, 1920).
About Lola Ridge
Lola Ridge was born on Dec. 12, 1873, in Dublin. Her books include “The Ghetto and Other Poems” (B.W. Huebsch, 1918), “Red Flag” (Viking Press, 1927) and “Firehead” (Payson & Clarke, ltd., 1929). Ridge died in New York on May 19, 1941.
The Academy of American Poets is a nonprofit, mission-driven organization, whose aim is to make poetry available to a wider audience. Email The Academy at poem-a-day@poets.org.
This poem is in the public domain. Distributed by King Features Syndicate.
