Contents

Louis Untermeyer, ed. (1885–1977). Modern American Poetry. 1919.

Alter Brody1895–1981

Searchlights

TINGLING shafts of light,

Like gigantic staffs

Brandished by blind, invisible hands,

Cross and recross each other in the sky,

Frantically—

Groping among the stars—stubbing themselves against the bloated clouds—

Tapping desperately for a sure foothold

In the fluctuating mists.

Calm-eyed and inaccessible

The stars peer through the blue fissures of the sky,

Unperturbed among the panic of scurrying beams;

Twinkling with a cold, acrid merriment.