Occidental -

Occidental

Westward the unsuspected continent sprawls heavily across the face of the planet,
Changing the colors of its forest robe by seasons,
Flashing the white jewels of its lake-necklace.
Sliding forever from the sunset
The grey-green surface of the Earth-star
Hurtles its giant arch from west to east:
Serpent mounds unroll their " S " scars along the Ohio,
The stag-branched artery of rivers drains unhampered to the gulf,
Smoke of grass fires drifts across the prairies,
Red-men follow clouds of buffalo with stone-tipped arrows,
Cliff-men scamper up and down stone ladders,
Priests peer from the black mouths of kivas to salute the sun, — the sun
That glittering upon the spines of the Rockies,
Watches the white crests darken eastward,
Beholds the slag slide down the sides of Shasta,
And leaves the land, —
To see his face disced in a trillion tangents
Following westward and westward across the waves of the widest of oceans.
YET UNDER THE BRANCHES RUNS THE INDIAN TRAIL,
EARTH BEATEN BY THE BUFFALO MOCCASINS —
EARTH REMEMBERING, TREMBLING IN THE MOONLIGHT.