Sigrid Sittig - 3 Short Poems (1924-26)
Forgotten Poems #60
—: Autumn :— Gone mad! The tree tops sway in vain desire toward the earth; The air is streaked with flying red of leaves. Across the sky Soft-bosomed clouds race to their tryst with doom; The demon wind Laughs, knowing that this last spurt of life is but the dance of death.
—: After Storm :— Spring rain Like tears of atonement For a wanton mood. The wind-broken lily Forgives.
—: Spring :— Sunlight like myriad shining white gulls skimming the water— Beloved, my longing for you hurts Like the repeated pecking of sharp-billed birds at my heart. Radiant blue sky, all but singing with color— Beloved, have you guessed at the mystery of my eyes after kisses? Trembling spring-green of trees— Beloved, do you know the shyness that clothes like a silver mist The glowing passion of a woman? Miracle of flowering blossoms— Beloved, can you guess at the despair Of one who trembles forever at the verge of Spring Never to flower?
Sigrid Sittig lived in Homewood, Chicago, and worked as a 'Director of Training' for Carson, Prie, Scott, & Company. Sittig was also a member of the Women's Club of the Chicago Ethical Society, which published numerous verse anthologies that she appeared in. Sittig went on to publish a handful of poems in the mid-1920s, alongside a few magazine articles and book reviews.
In the 1940s and 1950s Sittig spoke at community literary events in Chicago, such as the Flossmoor Book Club (in 1949) and the Wood Bookshelf (in 1951), and in 1952 published a collection of poetry, Remember My Love: Poems, which won the 'Grace Thayer Bradley Award for Poetry'.
For Sigrid Sittig By Dick Whyte listen to the sea like it knows you're listening— and the sky, having realised it doesn't exist will hold us
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I always prefer your 'for' poem to the others. Thanks for sharing.
Love your tribute to Sittig. Dick!