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Lee
Bramble is the pen name of Tom Ragle. He served as a teacher of English
literature, with a focus on classical British and American poetry,
and as an academic administrator in the United States, Austria, and
China before retiring in 1993. He lives in Guilford, Vermont in the
1780 farmhouse in which his wife and their children were raised.
Available from Lee Bramble is a collection of 20 poems read
aloud by the poet on CD.
Crane’s
Beach
Sixty years ago. A lazy, sunny
summer afternoon drowsing on the sand.
The quiet surf rocking a lullaby.
Splashes of color - a Prendergast painting:
umbrellas, blankets, bathing gear, beach balls.
Suddenly from the right, a formal figure
walking briskly, staring straight ahead:
boater, starched high collar, studs, bow tie,
seersucker suit, polished shoes, and spats!
He did not see the narrow spit of sand
running to the sea, until he reached the inlet,
the shallow ribbon tide had left behind.
He paused, perplexed, then looking neither right
nor left, bent, unwrapped the spats, untied
the shoes, removed the socks, stuffed them in the shoes,
and rolling up the pant legs, waded through,
still looking neither right nor left. Across,
he wiped with care the sand from off the feet
and then reversed the process - pants, socks,
shoes, and spats - and strode off down the beach,
boater, starched high collar, studs, bow tie,
seersucker suit, polished shoes, and spats!
looking nor right nor left, sixty years ago.
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