Offering and Rebuff -- Carl Sandburg

Guest poem sent in by Cheryl Ward

(Poem #1630) Offering and Rebuff I could love you as dry roots love rain. I could hold you as branches in the wind brandish petals. Forgive me for speaking so soon. Let your heart look on white sea spray and be lonely. Love is a fool star. You and a ring of stars may mention my name and then forget me. Love is a fool star. -- Carl Sandburg

Carl Sandburg's poetry is read by nearly all high school freshmen, but only a
few well known poems receive much attention. His ability to capture the
vulnerability and tenderness of life, whether the subject is love or the
contrast of skyscraper and flaming sky, in just a few words infuses his
writing, from the stories of Rootabaga Country to the passion-filled poems of
Honey and Salt. I like this poem because its images so precisely reflect the
offering and fear of, or perceived, or actual rebuff that new love is so
susceptible to.

Cheryl