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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


SEMPITERNAL by JAMES GALVIN

Poem Explanation Poet Analysis

First Line: OUT AT SEA THE SUN / WAS SHINING
Last Line: NORTH EACH TIME .
Subject(s): SEA; SILVER; SUN; WATER; WHALES; OCEAN;

Out at sea the sun
was shining,
but only in one place,
like a silver dish
on the rain-darkened water.
A single whale,
sated with love,
steaming north from Baja,
was too distant to see,
but we could

see where he was breathing:
a tree made of water
and filled with silver light
appeared on the air,
already falling,
and after a whale-breath,
reappeared --
the selfsame form --
a little farther
north each time.


Used with the permission of Copper Canyon Press, P.O. Box 271, Port Townsend, WA
98368-0271, www.cc.press.org



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