Caroling Dusk/The Walls of Jericho

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Caroling Dusk (1927)
edited by Countee Cullen

The Walls of Jericho by Blanche Taylor Dickinson

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Blanche Taylor Dickinson4752585Caroling Dusk — The Walls of Jericho1927Countee Cullen

THE WALLS OF JERICHO

Jericho is on the insideOf the things the world likes best;‘‘We want in,” the dark ones cried,“We will love it as the rest.”

“Let me learn,” the dark ones say.They have learned that Faith must doMore than meditate and prayThat a boulder may fall throughMaking one large man size entranceInto wondrous Jericho.They have learned: forget the distance,Count no steps, nor stop to blow.

Jericho still has her high wall,Futile barrier of Power. . . .Echoed with the dark ones’ footfallMarching around her every hour;Knowledge strapped down like a knapsackNot cumbersome, and moneyNot too much to strain the back. . . .Dark ones seeking milk and honey.

Over in the city staringUp at us along the wallAre the fat ones, trembling, swearingThere is no room there for us all! But there’ve been too many roundsMade to give the trip up here.Shout for joy . . . hear how it sounds. . . .The very walls echo with cheer!