CALIBAN IN THE COAL MINES God, we don’t like to complain We know that the mine is no lark— But—there’s the pools from the rain; But—there’s the cold and the dark. God, You don’t know what it is— You, in Your well-lighted sky— Watching the meteors whizz; Warm, with the sun always by. God, if You had but the moon Stuck in Your cap for a lamp, Even You’d tire of it soon, Down in the dark and the damp. Nothing but blackness above, And nothing that moves but the cars. ... God, if You wish for our love, Fling us a handful of stars! SWIMMERS I took the crazy short-cut to the bay; Over a fence or two and through a hedge, Jumping a private road, along the edge Of backyards full of drying wash it lay. I ran, electric with elation, Sweating, impetuous and wild For a swift plunge in the sea that smiled, Quiet and luring, half a mile away. This was the final thrill, the last sensation That capped four hours of violence and laughter: To have, with casual friends and casual jokes, Hard sport, a cold swim and fresh linen after ... And now, the last set being played and over, I hurried past the ruddy lakes of clover; I swung my racket at astonished oaks, My arm still tingling from aggressive strokes. Tennis was over for the day— I took the leaping short-cut to the bay. Then the swift plunge into the cool, green dark— The windy waters rushing past me, through me; Filled with a sense of some heroic lark, Exulting in a vigor clean and roomy. Swiftly I rose to meet the feline sea That sprang upon me with a hundred claws, And grappled, pulled me down and played with me. Then, tense and breathless in the tightening pause When one wave grows into a toppling acre, I dived headlong into the foremost breaker; Pitting against a cold and turbulent strife The feverish intensity of life. Out of the foam I lurched and rode the wave, Swimming, hand over hand, against the wind; I felt the sea’s vain pounding, and I grinned Knowing I was its master, not its slave. Oh, the proud total of those lusty hours— The give and take of rough and vigorous tussles With happy sinews and rejoicing muscles; The knowledge of my own miraculous powers, Feeling the force in one small body bent To curb and tame this towering element.