The Color Sergeant
(On an Incident at the Battle of San Juan Hill)Under a burning tropic sun,
With comrades around him lying,
A trooper of the sable
Lay wounded, bleeding, dying
(On an Incident at the Battle of San Juan Hill)Under a burning tropic sun,
With comrades around him lying,
A trooper of the sable
Lay wounded, bleeding, dying
Red is the color of blood, and I will seek it:
I have sought it in the grass
It is the color of steep sun seen through eyelids
It is hidden under the suave flesh of women— Flows there, quietly flows
I've often heard my mother say,
When great winds blew across the day,
And, cuddled close and out of sight,
The young pigs squealed with sudden
Forget love I want to die in your yellow hair
Color - Caste - Denomination -
These - are Time's Affair -
Death's diviner Classifying
Does not know they are -
What is pink? a rose is pink
By a fountain's brink.
What is red? a poppy's red
In its barley bed.