Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THESE BONES GONNA RISE AGAIN, by MARJORY STONEMAN DOUGLAS


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THESE BONES GONNA RISE AGAIN, by                    
First Line: Ho, pines, black pines, walk 'round, walk 'round
Last Line: That the old lost dreams were right.
Alternate Author Name(s): Douglass, Marjorie Stoneman
Subject(s): Bones; Trees


Ho, pines, black pines, walk 'round, walk 'round,
Ho, moon, lift up your head,
For I'm gonna sing to the young good ground
What the chanting winds have said.

Ho, Glades, green Glades, lie down, lie down.
Ho, clouds, lift up your height,
For I'm gonna sing to the lusty town
What I felt in the big dark night.

Oh, white bones gleam on the old, torn soil
Where the chanting winds have come,
And poor folks' eyes are red with toil,
And poor folks' hearts are numb.

We've got no bones upon our hearts,
But only the first spring rain
I'm telling you straight, sure as green grass starts,
Those bones gonna rise again.

Ho, pines, black pines, ring 'round, ring 'round.
Those bones gonna jump with glee.
The bones of dreams that the winds have found
Deep down in the earth and the sea.

As I was walking at ten o'clock
On Flagler street by the park,
I heard the palm trees clap and knock
And I felt this sing like a spark.

Oh, I felt that the bones that they piled in heaps
Had felt the touch of the rain,
And I know as sure as the slow tide creeps,
These bones gonna rise again.

And I said to myself on Flagler street,
As the wind sang high, sang high,
"There's guys I know I'd like to beat
These lads with the fish cold eye."

I'd take the stupid hearts they had
And I'd shout them this refrain,
"Oh, whadda you care if it does sound mad?
These bones gonna rise again."

They rise, old bones, they'll rise some more;
They'll rise and move and run.
The old dead dreams that have died before,
They'll rise in this shouting sun.

We'll make them rise, we'll make them rise,
We'll make those old dreams plain.
We'll see what we are with new washed eyes.
Those bones gonna rise again.

I'll tell the world that the things I say
Are straight and I'm telling you,
To them that look there will be a way.
As true as the earth is true.

To them that have the hearts to dare,
To them with an honest brain,
The bones of the old dreams, wise and rare,
Those bones gonna rise again.

Ho, all you pines, ring round, ring round,
Ho, sun, raise up your head.
For I'm shouting here for this young great ground
What the chanting winds have said.

Ho' 'Glades, great 'Glades, lie down, lie down,
Ho, clouds, lift up your height.
For I'm telling the world and this lusty town
That the old lost dreams were right.





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