A. Y. Winters. On the Mesa. Harriet Monroe, ed. Poetry: A Magazine of Verse. 1912-22

Harriet Monroe, ed. (1860–1936). Poetry: A Magazine of Verse. 1912–22.

On the Mesa

By A. Y. Winters


From “Monodies” THIS I saw on the mesa’s edge
As the sun sprang up chanting:

A squat girl,
Naked as the red rock;
Brow, face, breasts, limbs,	5
Square lines in red rock;
Arms reaching toward the sun;
From parted lips
A silent song, veering like a swallow’s course, flying.

This I saw on the mesa’s edge	10
As the sun sprang up chanting.

But the sun outleapt its ardor, dwindled
To a cynical blinking yellow eye,
And she drooped heavily.

And I could have fingered her naked flesh	15
As one might touch crumbling stone!