Poems (Kennedy)/Low Tide

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4590556Poems — Low TideSara Beaumont Kennedy
LOW TIDE
A STRETCH of beach bared to the sinking sun,
  Rocks slimed with sea-weed, and a wet
Black spar, lone derelict from some old wreck
  The storms claimed for a sea-god's debt.
Nothing but ugliness where'er I tracked the sand—
Nothing but ooze and mud. My dim eyes ached.
  Then suddenly amid the swirl
Of broken shells and weeds and dreary drift
  I found a white and priceless pearl,
   Left for me by the tide.

Long days and nights bereft of sun and stars,
  Gray skies with grayer thoughts and fears,
And Failure, spectre-like and evil-eyed,
  That haunted all the shadowed years.
Nothing in life but heart ache and despair—
Nothing but toil and pain—My soul was sick!
  Then sudden in the gray above
A rift of blue; and 'mid the close-set thorns
  I saw, full blown, the rose of Love
   Waiting my outstretched hand.