Poem March 10, 1956 Issue

THE CLIFF WAY

Jeannette Hulst Johansson

Why walk this meager, stone-strewn strip of sand,
Where mile on empty mile the echoes merge
The roar against the rocks as long swells urge
Sonorous aimlessness upon the land?
For here a line of footprints all unplanned
Recedes behind us, and some sudden surge
Of tracery of watered foam must purge
Our wave-avoiding course along the strand.

Instead, ascend the cliff. There, if, despite
The Love that carves each step that we must go,
In perfect symmetry, we cross aside
To walk the rubbled rocks that roll and slide
To join the rockfalls on the beach below.
Love's call will save us. Turn! Ascend the height.

Jeannette Hulst Johansson

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