Wednesday 17 April 2019

A January Dandelion BY GEORGE MARION MCCLELLAN

All Nashville is a chill. And everywhere 
Like desert sand, when the winds blow, 
There is each moment sifted through the air, 
A powdered blast of January snow. 
O! thoughtless Dandelion, to be misled 
By a few warm days to leave thy natural bed, 
Was folly growth and blooming over soon. 
And yet, thou blasted yellow-coated gem, 
Full many a heart has but a common boon 
With thee, now freezing on thy slender stem. 
When the heart has bloomed by the touch of love’s warm breath 
Then left and chilling snow is sifted in, 
It still may beat but there is blast and death 
To all that blooming life that might have been. 

Source: African-American Poetry of the Nineteenth Century: An Anthology (University of Illinois Press, 1992)

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