LEADER RESOURCE 2: The Fountain
By Denise Levertov, from Poems 1960-1967, copyright (C) 1961 by Denise Levertov. Reprinted by permission of New Directions Publishing Corp.
Don't say, don't say there is no water to solace the dryness at our hearts.
I have seen
the foundation springing out of the rock wall
and you drinking there. And I too
before your eyes
found footholds and climbed
to drink cool water.
The woman of that place, shading her eyes,
frowned as she watched — but not because
she grudged the water,
Only because she was waiting
To see we drank our fill and were
refreshed.
Don't say, don't say there is no water.
That fountain is there among its scalloped
green and gray stones,
It is still there and always there
with its quiet song and strange power
to spring in us,
up and out through the rock.
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Last updated on Saturday, December 10, 2011.
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