Sunday, June 18, 2006

Not Waving But Drowning

One of my favorite poems, by Stevie Smith:

Not Waving But Drowning

Nobody heard him, the dead man,
But still he lay moaning:
I was much further out than you thought
And not waving but drowning.

Poor chap, he always loved larking
And now he's dead
It must have been too cold for him his heart gave way,
They said.

Oh, no no no, it was too cold always
(Still the dead one lay moaning)
I was much too far out all my life
And not waving but drowning.

1 comment:

DAN BUCK said...

Hey Gaff!

Love this poem! Especially as a doomed "Larker" sometimes in over my head.

I just used it last week in my Creative Writing course.

Blessings to you friend!