Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, MISFIT, by ROSEMARY FARRAR


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

MISFIT, by                    
First Line: His mother did not think about
Last Line: Then raised it shyly to his lips.
Subject(s): Alienation (social Psychology); Mothers; Estrangement; Outcasts


His mother did not think about
His pointed ears; her only doubt
Was if she ought to love him best.
When he was grown he never guessed
Himself the reason he was not able
To fit his legs beneath a table,
Or why a four-walled room seemed small
When he was short instead of tall.
The office force all questioned why
He hated towers and longed for sky;
In spite of being city-bred,
He yearned for leaves around his head.

There was but one who knew, his wife,
Who shared his cramped and puzzled life;
His wife alone, who shared his sleep,
Knew why it was he dreamed of sheep:
One bright vacation day she found
Him curled up neatly on the ground
Where sturdy cattails and marshy weeds
Were tangled among the yellow reeds;
Unseen, she watched him work intently
On some small thing; he held it gently
Between his slender fingertips --
Then raised it shyly to his lips.





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