Hill of the Foreskins

Harry Crosby 1898 (Boston) – 1929 (New York City)



what was the moment of coition like?
come Zariba let down your gates
turn turtle all you captives of the flesh

square suns
walled in by darkness from the crypt
young bodies stripped to make a mock of time
toy beauty dipped in feral wine

bones buried in the Wood
bones buried in the gold of Sun
bones buried in the very gates of War
(great searching of the gates)

impatient earthquake
shuffles all the pack
redeals the reds the golds the blacks

birdlike and blackened
secret as a door
sharp knives to stallion
through a forest floor
(great searching of the gates)
floodgates

the day is done
and I can feel the pebbles
in my hand
crumble and crumble
to a beach of sand
whereon you walk

(yet do they prance in
circumcision round the pole
stride over mountain Tops
gurgle the rising Tide)

and if a slender boat
should anchor near the Sun
would mad queens madly run
(girdles undone)
or would they come
black scaffolds to the Sun ?

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 29, 2023

51 sec read
83

Quick analysis:

Scheme xax xxxx xbcA xxx xcbcAa bxdxdx xxxx xbbbxb
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 898
Words 173
Stanzas 8
Stanza Lengths 3, 4, 4, 3, 6, 6, 4, 6

Harry Crosby

Harry Lillis Crosby III is an American actor, singer, and investment banker. more…

All Harry Crosby poems | Harry Crosby Books

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