Poem-A-Day: Lines to a Nasturtium by Anne Spencer

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Lines to a Nasturtium by Anne Spencer                     A lover muses Flame-flower, Day-torch, Mauna Loa, I saw a daring bee, today, pause, and soar, Into your flaming heart;  Then did I hear crisp crinkled laughter As the furies after tore him apart? A bird, next, small and humming,  Looked into your startled depths and fled... Surely, some dread sight, and dafter Than human eyes as mine can see, Set the stricken air waves drumming In his flight.   Day-torch, Flame-flower, cool-hot Beauty, I cannot see, I cannot hear your fluty Voice lure your loving swain, But I know one other to whom you are in beauty Born in vain; Hair like the setting sun, Her eyes a rising star, Motions gracious as reeds by Babylon, bar All your competing; Hands like, how like, brown lilies sweet,  Cloth of gold were fair enough to touch her feet... Ah, how the senses flood at my repeating, As once in her fire-lit heart I felt the furies Beating, beating.       Today's poem is in the public domain. December 8, 2012 Anne Spencer, born in Virginia in 1882, was an active participant in the Harlem Renaissance movement. She lived and wrote in Virginia until her death in 1975. Related Poems Nothing Stays Put by Amy Clampitt Forced Bloom by David Baker Asphodel, That Greeny Flower [Excerpt] by William Carlos Williams Poem-A-Day started as a National Poetry Month program in 2006, delivering daily poems from newly-published poetry titles.   Due to popular demand, Poem-A-Day became a year-round program in 2010, featuring original, never-before-published poems by contemporary poets on weekdays, and classic poems on weekends.   Browse the Poem-A-Day archive for selections since 2010.  Thanks for being a part of the Academy of American Poets community. To learn about other programs, including National Poetry Month, Poem In Your Pocket Day, the annual Poets Forum, and more, visit Poets.org.

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