Hilltop: A Literary Paper. Volume 1 Number 2
Charles Brasch — Sea-Gulls Among the Mountains
Charles Brasch
Sea-Gulls Among the Mountains
Bring from sea, O white-winged,
Cool airs for these parching flanks, that strain
And flinch under the naked light;
Cold dews of darkness can barely
Moisten the gasping mountain pores.
They lived once, these now leafless ranges,
Among opal shadows of water
Where t he starfish fell in death
And shell creatures relinquished their houses
To become these tortured rocks, this dust.
Now wind-tides pasture upon them,
Sharper the searching stars,
And the sun's leech-lips are pressed
To such the life from their veins
Under the sleepless drum of the air.
Bring from the crying sea, white shadows,
Veils, mirages, eternal disquiet;
Plunge their burning thighs
Deep in the immemorial waters;
Proffer them long draughts of forgetfulness.