Pigeon Cove, MA 1948
Above, the sky, remote and pure,
Below, the earth, steadfast and sure.
Between the two, the surging sea,
Fighting both for mastery.
Blue swell of wave, foam flung high,
White flash of challenge to proud sky,
The surge, the crash, the sounding roar
Of wind-swept wave on earth’s stone door.
Florence Adams Clark spent her early childhood in the Rocky Mountain mining town of Gilman, Colorado. She left Colorado to attend Wellesley College, graduating in 1949 and moving with her husband to Ithaca, New York, where she raised a family and taught high school English. She has been writing poetry for as long as she can remember.
Bravo! “Battle” is one of the best poems I’ve read on this website. You’ve mastered rhyme, meter and imagery. Great work!
E. V.
I really like this poem, too. Well done!
Very beautiful and very well-written!
A word-painting masterpiece!
This poem has good rhyme, meter, and imagery. Well done!
This is an excellent example of old school formalism, the kind of poem Cleanth Brooks would have admired. Brava!
The powerful imagery in this poem makes it a pleasure to read. Very well done!
Indeed. I’m glad you left Colorado and moved to where you were inspired to write this poem! Lovely.
Very nice.
Thumbs up!
It’s great isn’t it? When you’ve been writing poetry for as long as you can remember, then … you get good at it, very good! A gem of a poem.
Hello, all. My daughter Carolyn is texting this for me today so that you know how much I appreciate your responses.
What a pleasure in sharing!
Florence A. Clark