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Poem-a-Day - "Length of Moon" by Arna Bontemps

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February 12, 2022 

Length of Moon
Arna Bontemps

Then the golden hour
Will tick its last
And the flame will go down in the flower.

A briefer length of moon
Will mark the sea-line and the yellow dune.

Then we may think of this, yet
There will be something forgotten
And something we should forget.

It will be like all things we know: 
A stone will fail; a rose is sure to go.

It will be quiet then and we may stay
Long at the picket gate,—
But there will be less to say.

This poem is in the public domain. Published in Poem-a-Day on February 12, 2022, by the Academy of American Poets.

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“Length of Moon” appeared in Fire!! (November, 1926).
Arna Bontemps was a poet, novelist, children’s author, editor, historian, and librarian affiliated with the Harlem Renaissance movement. The author of multiple books, including Black Thunder (Macmillan, 1936), and the editor of American Negro Poetry (Hill & Wang, 1963), among other anthologies, he was the recipient of two Guggenheim Fellowships. He died on June 4, 1973.
“Harvest Moon” by George Marion McClellan
read more
“Evening Song” by Sherwood Anderson
read more

Thanks to John Murillo, author of Kontemporary Amerikan Poetry (Four Way Books, 2020), who curated Poem-a-Day for this month’s weekdays. Listen to a Q&A about Murillo’s curatorial approach and find out more about our guest editors for the year.
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