SCAVENGER POEMS

A Critic

That from _you_, neighbor! to whose vacant lot
Each rhyming literary knacker scourges
His cart-compelling Pegasus to trot,
As folly, fame or famine smartly urges?
.....

Ambrose Bierce

The Poet-s Hat

The rain had fallen, the Poet arose,
He passed through the doorway into the street,
A strong wind lifted his hat from his head,
And he uttered some words that were far from sweet.
.....

Robert Fuller Murray

The Night-washers

Whe-ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh!
We are the brothers of ghouls, and who
In the name of the Crooked Saints are you?

.....

Bliss Carman And Richard Hovey

Daniel

[Written at the grave of an old friend.]


Down into the darkness at last, Daniel,-down into the darkness at last;
.....

Hanford Lennox Gordon

The Dance At Darmstadt

In the city of Darmstadt, the Sabbath morn
Shone over the broad Cathedral Square,
And to nobly, richly, and lowly born,
The belfry carilloned call to prayer.
.....

Alfred Austin

Advice To A Raven In Russia (1812)

Black fool, why winter here? These frozen skies,
Worn by your wings and deafen'd by your cries,
Should warn you hence, where milder suns invite,
And day alternates with his mother night.
.....

Joel Barlow

The Principal's Ash-barrel

In a notable college the story is told
'Twill bear repetition, although somewhat old
That, at some unauthenticate date in the past
(I think 'twas the month or the year before last),
.....

W. M. Mackeracher

Jackal And Child

In the great Province of Bengal,
The scavenger is the Jackal,
For it doth love each night to feast,
On the carrion of some beast.
.....

James Mcintyre

The Poet's Hat

The rain had fallen, the Poet arose,
He passed through the doorway into the street,
A strong wind lifted his hat from his head,
And he uttered some words that were far from sweet.
.....

Robert Fuller Murray

Born To Fight

I'm a soldier, long before birth, I've been
Swam with thousands of my kind
First ever victory to be seen
A tough race of an egg to find
.....

Solomon Sakyi

Up From The Floor

They sit in silence. In camera, around the table. Terrifyingly stern, stares that grew antlers in my eyes.

It was as if thunder or bolts with electricity were being decreed.
The self-important, the pompous, well-fed and self-assured.
.....

Paul Cameron Brown

On The Jellico-spur

TO MY FRIEND, JOHN FOX, JR.


You remember, the deep mist, -
.....

Madison Julius Cawein

The Night-washers

Whe-ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh!
We are the brothers of ghouls, and who
In the name of the Crooked Saints are you?

.....

Bliss Carman (william)

On Dreams, An Imitation Of Petronius

Petronii Fragmenta, xxx.


THOSE dreams, that on the silent night intrude,
.....

Jonathan Swift

On The Jellico Spur Of The Cumberlands

TO J. FOX, JR.


You remember how the mist,
.....

Madison Julius Cawein

The Euthanasia Of Van

"We are told that the bigots are growing old and fast wearing out. If it be so why not let us die in peace?"
--LORD BEXLEY'S Letter to the Freeholders of Kent.


.....

Thomas Moore

These Too Shall Pass

The wilted orchids yearn for water
to bloom and sprout out in winter
as the dusty desert dreams of fresh leaves
and autumn showers alter the vineyards.
.....

Oluwakayode Taiwo

A Lonely Place To Die

I want to walk alone.
Walk to a lonely place, void of man.
A place where the heartbeat makes the most noise.
I want to go far from the reach of no man.
.....

Solomon Sakyi