Max Endicoff. The City. Harriet Monroe, ed. Poetry: A Magazine of Verse. 1912-22

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

The City

By Max Endicoff


HAUNTED
By furtive fear of Heaven’s wrath
For wallowing in the mire,
Each day,
With a coward’s mockery of courage,	5
The city hurls a monumental oath
Of brick and mortar
Far up into the air.

These are the sky-tipped towers
Of terrifying height	10
Rising from the swamp-black wilderness of greed—
A frothy challenge to the gods
From snarling lips.