Souvenir
Just a rainy day or two
In a windy tower,
That was all I had of you—
Saving half an hour.
Marred by greeting passing groups
In a cinder walk,
Near some naked blackberry hoops
Dim with purple chalk.
I remember three or four
Things you said in spite,
And an ugly coat you wore,
Plaided black and white.
Just a rainy day or two
And a bitter word.
Why do I remember you
As a singing bird?
Credit
This poem is in the public domain. Published in Poem-a-Day on January 25, 2020, by the Academy of American Poets.
About this Poem
“Souvenir” originally appeared in The Harp-Weaver and Other Poems (Harper & Brothers, 1923).
Author
Edna St. Vincent Millay
Edna St. Vincent Millay was born in Rockland, Maine, on February 22, 1892. A poet and playwright poetry collections include The Ballad of the Harp-Weaver (Flying Cloud Press, 1922), winner of the Pulitzer Prize, and Renascence and Other Poems (Harper, 1917) She died on October 18, 1950, in Austerlitz, New York.
Date Published
01/01/1923