Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


THE SWEEPERS by ADA GIDDINGS

First Line: THE JAQUARANDA BLUED THE WALK AND LAWN
Last Line: BEFORE YOU BLAME ANOTHER, TRY HIS YOKE!
Subject(s): BROTHERHOOD; LABOR & LABORERS; SONNET (AS LITERARY FORM); WORK; WORKERS;

The jaquaranda blued the walk and lawn;
The showered blossoms fell upon my head
When, not to see their beauty crushed and dead,
I rose to sweep the walk at shining dawn.
From blue of earth to beaming dome were drawn
My matins rising high above the tread
Of traffic, roughly slow or quickly sped.
While resting thus, there came a man of brawn;
To sweep the daily waste, his humble task.
We smiled and traded brooms. But, while he brushed
The gutter far with mine, by heavy stroke
I labored just a yard with his. I ask,
That brotherhood's appeal may not be hushed:
Before you blame another, try his yoke!



Home: PoetryExplorer.net