mourning dove North Carolina Poetry Society

A Special Dedication
To One Who Gave So Much

The Marked and Unmarked ©
by Sam Ragan

I cannot say upon which luminous evening
I shall go out beyond the stars,
To windless spaces and unmarked time,
Turning nights to days and days to nights.

          This is the place where I live.
          I planted this tree.
          I watched it grow.
          The leaves fall and I scuff them with my feet.
          This is the street on which I walk.
          I have walked it many times.
          Sometimes it seems there are echoes of my
          walking--

In the mornings, in the nights,
In those long evenings of silence and stars

--the unmarked stars.

Reprinted, by permission of Talmadge Ragan, from Sam Ragan,
TO THE WATER'S EDGE ( Moore Publishing, 1971 ) and COLLECTED POEMS
OF SAM RAGAN (St. Andrews Press, 1990)

Sam Ragan was the Poet Laureate of North Carolina from 1982 until his death in 1996.

Important Notice: Copyright belongs to the estate of the Poet.

A Special Dedication To One Who Gave So Much

A Special Dedication
To One Who Gave So Much