Archive for the 'sarah n. cleghorn' Category

Saint R.L.S. by Sarah N. Cleghorn

September 19th, 2004 Comments(0)

Here’s a poem about one o’ the best writers o’ pirates, if ye can read. Arrrrr!!!

Saint R.L.S.
By Sarah N. Cleghorn

Sultry and brazen was the August day
   When Sister Stanislaus went down to see
   The little boy with the tuberculous knee.

And as she thought to find him, so he lay:
   Still staring, through the dizzy waves of heat,
   At the tall tenement across the street.

But did he see that dreary picture? Nay:
   In his mind’s eye a sunlit harbor showed,
   Where a tall pirate ship at anchor rode.

Yes, he was full ten thousand miles away!
   —The Sister, when she turned his pillow over,
   Kissed “Treasure Island” on its well-worn cover.

The Incentive by Sarah N. Cleghorn

July 29th, 2004 Comments(0)

I read this poem recently and it really struck me. I am starting to feel a bit better about my PhD program, but I still have times of great despair (no, it’s not too strong a word). This poem seems to capture how I feel a lot of the time.

The Incentive
By Sarah N. Cleghorn

I saw a sickly cellar plant
Droop on its feeble stem, for want
Of sun and wind and rain and dew—
Of freedom!—Then a man came through
The cellar, and I heard him say,
“Poor, foolish plant, by all means stay
Contented here: for—know you not?—
This stagnant dampness, mould and rot
Are your incentive to grow tall
And reach that sunbeam on the wall.”
—Even as he spoke, the sun’s one spark
Withdrew, and left the dusk more dark.—