Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, STATEN ISLAND FERRY: OVER, by MARIELLA


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

STATEN ISLAND FERRY: OVER, by                    
First Line: This is the sea! And these are gulls
Last Line: Than to see the ocean?
Subject(s): Ferry Boats; Staten Island


This is the sea! And these are gulls
Dipping the wonderful arc of their wings
Into our white foam-track.
Ah! And this is the salt tang of the sea!
I bought them for a nickel.
I, who grew up in the middle west reading Conrad
And dreaming of this smell, these birds, this amazing un- speakable ocean.

Gull! The word was a poem to a child.
I said it softly to let the sweet, liquid l's
Glide like the dip of wings to water.
I said it softly and dreamed of the sea
And hated hawks and sparrows.

I lean over the deck rail.
Why do the pale commuters stare over their evening papers
At me? Is it more wonderful
To behold one who bought all her dreams for a nickel
Than to see the ocean?





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