Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THIS IS NOT I by FRANCES DAVIS ADAMS

First Line: I, WHO HAVE KNOWN WIDE SPACES AND THE SWEEP OF HILLS
Last Line: UNANSWERED DESERT CALLS.
I, who have known wide spaces and the sweep of hills
High-flung against the sky,
Now go with dark-quenched sight through narrow streets, unstill
And swift. This is not I.

Not I, who watched the terraced flame of sunset climb
The unforgetting west,
And now glimpse only color over roofs, from time
To time and find no rest.

This is not I, this grey, uncaring soul who goes
Between the city walls,
A sightless ghost, transplanted, out of place, who knows
Unanswered desert calls.



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