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Cadenza

by Carl Sandburg, 1920

The knees
   of this proud woman
 are bone.

 The elbows
   of this proud woman
 are bone.

 The summer-white stars
   and the winter-white stars
 never stop circling
   around this proud woman.

 The bones
   of this proud woman
 answer the vibrations
   of the stars.

   In summer
 the stars speak deep thoughts
   In the winter
 the stars repeat summer speeches.

 The knees
   of this proud woman
 know these thoughts
   and know these speeches
 of the summer and winter stars.

Published in Smoke and Steel
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