He is as much old California As abalone and @3madrona@1, As the Seal Rocks, and cable cars. Little and lean, L-ing his R.'s, he stands before The cave door which he has signed With strange and beautiful symbols Which should mean Temples and shrines, Incense and teak and silk, Dragons and jade and ivory But which merely say -- HERE WE KEEP THE MILK! He is wizened and dry and clean; Benevolent, tireless, wise; He trots all day; In his small hard hands He holds our comfort. Forty years He has cooked for White Devils -- Electricity -- gas -- the good oak flame. He has finished with hope and fears In the fathomless calm of the East. By and by, his bones will go home To a hungry Canton village By a drowsy river with a sing-song name. His sloe black eyes are opaque, Inscrutable, steady. He announces a groaning board, He bids to a succulent feast, He spills a horn of plenty When he chants -- "Dinner leddy!" | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THOMAS GRAY by ARTHUR CHRISTOPHER BENSON FIRST NIGHT-FLIGHT by MARGARET BODEN A CHRONICLE by WILLIAM STANLEY BRAITHWAITE LINES ON REVISITING A SCOTTISH RIVER by THOMAS CAMPBELL OLNEY HYMNS: 7. VANITY OF THE WORLD by WILLIAM COWPER MUSIC; READ AT ANNUAL DINNER OF HARVARD MUSICAL ASSN., 1874 by CHRISTOPHER PEARSE CRANCH |