Virginia McCormick - Mountains (1922)

Forgotten Poems #23

       I turn my back upon the mountains,
       The lazy mountains
       Sleeping in the sun.
       They bring me peace,
       A profound satisfaction with self,
       A desire to rest always
       In the shadow of their beauty.

       But life is short,
       So I turn my back upon the mountains
       And set my face to the sea;
       The sea, whose restlessness
       Spurs me to new tasks,
       To vast undertakings!

       Verily life is short,
       And I would work,
       Not sleep!

 

Virginia McCormick (p. 1921-26, etc.)
P: Tempo (1921), The Personalist (1922), The Lyric West (1922/25), Contemporary Verse (1925), Poetry (1926), The Archive (1927); A: The Home Book of Modern Verse (1925), Anthology of Magazine Verse (1925-27), The Archive Anthology (1926); C: Star-Dust & Gardens (1920), Voices of the Wind (1924); short-stories, reviews, etc.

“Resides in Virginia. She is the author of a volume of poetry entitled Star-Dust & Gardens.” (Tempo, 1921) President of the Poetry Society of Virginia, and one of the founders and editors of The Lyric. (Poetry, 1926)

 
            For Virginia McCormack
                   by Dick Whyte

       the mountains stitch
       sky to earth

       in a jagged rush
       of old stars—

       sing like the dead
       can hear you


                        xoxo 
                          dw
 

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