Aztec Mask

Carl Sandburg 1878 (Galesburg) – 1967 (Flat Rock)



I wanted a man’s face looking into the jaws and throat of life
With something proud on his face, so proud no smash of the jaws,
No gulp of the throat leaves the face in the end
With anything else than the old proud look:
Even to the finish, dumped in the dust,
Lost among the used-up cinders,
This face, men would say, is a flash,
Is laid on bones taken from the ribs of the earth,
Ready for the hammers of changing, changing years,
Ready for the sleeping, sleeping years of silence.
Ready for the dust and fire and wind.
I wanted this face and I saw it today in an Aztec mask.
A cry out of storm and dark, a red yell and a purple prayer,
A beaten shape of ashes
waiting the sunrise or night,
something or nothing,
proud-mouthed,
proud-eyed gambler.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

43 sec read
94

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQR
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 757
Words 146
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 18

Carl Sandburg

Carl Sandburg was an American writer and editor best known for poetry. more…

All Carl Sandburg poems | Carl Sandburg Books

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