Dancing Adairs by Conrad Aiken

View this email on a browser Forward to a friend August 16, 2014   Dancing Adairs   Conrad Aiken

Behold me, in my chiffon, gauze, and tinsel, Flitting out of the shadow into the spotlight, And into the shadow again, without a whisper!— Firefly’s my name, I am evanescent. Firefly’s your name. You are evanescent. But I follow you  as remorselessly as darkness, And shut you in and enclose you, at last, and always, Till you are lost,—as a voice is lost in silence. Till I am lost, as a voice is lost in silence. . . Are you the one who would close so cool about me? My fire sheds into and through you and beyond you: How can your fingers hold me? I am elusive. How can my fingers hold you? You are elusive? Yes, you are flame, but I surround and love you, Always extend beyond you, cool, eternal, To take you into my heart’s great void of silence. You shut me into your heart’s great void of silence. . . O sweet and soothing end for a life of whirling! Now I am still, whose life was mazed with motion. Now I sink into you, for love of sleep.            This poem is in the public domain. About This Poem   “Dancing Adairs” was originally published in Aiken’s collection Turns and Movies (Houghton Mifflin, 1916).   Conrad Aiken, a poet, playwright, essayist, and novelist, was born in Savannah, Georgia, in 1889. He published numerous books of poetry and was named the Poetry Consultant to the Library of Congress in 1950. Aiken died in Savannah in 1973. Poetry by Aiken   Selected Poems (Oxford University Press, 2003) "Voyages II" by Hart Crane "The Hug" by Thom Gunn "Sea Fever" by John Masefield Poem-a-Day   Launched during National Poetry Month in 2006, Poem-a-Day features new and previously unpublished poems by contemporary poets on weekdays and classic poems on weekends. 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.   You are receiving this e-mail because you elected to subscribe to our mailing list. If you would like to unsubscribe, please click here.   © Academy of American Poets 75 Maiden Lane, Suite 901, New York, NY 10038