Garnet Poems: An Anthology of Connecticut Poetry Since 1776

what the cranes said

116 gArnet poems what the cranes said Under the tall pine by the chinaberry Hurry! Hurry! The sundial has lost its shadow, shrieked the green cranes, the garden is empty; the mountain tilts backward; the wind is hollow; black ice on the pond; a scent of snow; the sky is red with flames the woeful screeching of the trees tells us how close the fire comes. By the honeyed pine near the chinaberry Come! Come with me! the great white crane replied, standing tall on her long black legs. The molten earth waxes and wanes; tonight as the sun set the clouds became flames, mountains darkened, then Orion seized the sky; but now the full moon as fat as a wheel brings a new year round— and she flew up and away as dark as a shadow over the winter ground. ...