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Listen

Text of Poem

Clock in the bell tower
floods with morning light—
lake of bright water—
hears its tongue strike
wave of wavering tones,
the echoes surge after.

So a poem’s freshness
fills the wakened ear
and E. L. Mayo,
pen raised, said, Listen,
tuned voices of words
in a chorus directed
create by strange magic
a music we know.

First Line
Clock in the bell tower
Original Pub Location
Original Publication Date
1974
Original Citation
Periphery (Spring 1974).
Complete Poems
269
Word Count
57
Poetic Form
open
References and Commentary
E. L. Mayo (1904-79) was a poet who taught at universities in Iowa and interviewed Hearst for his radio show.
Themes