I remember
The crackle of the palm trees
Over the mooned white roofs of the town...
The shining town...
And the tender fumbling of the surf
On the sulphur-yellow beaches
As we sat...a little apart...in the close-pressing night.

The moon hung above us like a golden mango,
And the moist air clung to our faces,
Warm and fragrant as the open mouth of a child
And we watched the out-flung sea
Rolling to the purple edge of the world,
Yet ever back upon itself...
As we...

Inadequate night...
And mooned white memory
Of a tropic sea...
How softly it comes up
Like an ungathered lily.



About this poem
"A Memory" was published in "The Ghetto and Other Poems" (B.W. Huebsch, 1918).

About Lola Ridge
Born in Dublin in 1873, Lola Ridge grew up in New Zealand and Australia. In 1907, she immigrated to New York City. Her works include "Sun-Up and Other Poems" (1920) and "Dance of Fire" (1935). She died in New York in 1941.

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This poem is in the public domain. Distributed by King Features Syndicate