Allen D. Gray

 
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LIFE.

 
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ONE time, when day's last lingering ray had faded, 
    And murky clouds obscured each cheerful star, 
And among the distant hills by darkness shaded, 
    I heard the whispering of the winds afar. 
 
Upon the bridge that spanned a flowing river, 
    I stood and gazed upon the outward flow; 
I saw the shadows on its bosom quiver, 
    Like phantoms rising from the depths below. 
 
It tarried not a moment, downward sweeping, 
    Out toward the bosom of the deep, broad sea, 
Whose mighty billows 'gainst the shores Were leaping, 
    Tossing their foaming spray perpetually. 
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Life is a current setting toward the ocean 
    Of the Unknown: that sea without a shore; 
Where all the tumult of this world's commotion, 
    Is hushed to stillness in the evermore. 
( 49 )