Louise Mallinkrodt Kueffner. The Crag. Harriet Monroe, ed. Poetry: A Magazine of Verse. 1912-22

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

The Crag

By Louise Mallinkrodt Kueffner


ONCE I was a crag crowning the peak’s sharp crest,
My red flanks bared to the golden sun,
My sharp-serried comb breaking the loose-textured low-fleeting clouds;

And once I was the sudden swift-moving shadow upon the crag,
Fallen from a white high-sailing cloud.	5

Once I was the cone-heavy tree upon the crag,
Tossing long needles in the wind,
Breathing sweet fragrance to the air;

And once I was the glistening spider’s thread spun deftly from needle to needle.

These I was once—	10
Unthinking,
Untroubled by whence or whither or why;
Knowing not
Of yesterday, tomorrow, today,
Of loneliness, desire, or love, or joy:	15
Thus I was once.

And once I was the blue, blue sky above,
And made men glad.