African American Poetry: A Digital Anthology

J. Alpheus Butler, "The City by the Sea" (1928)

(An Impression of Tampa)

REVERENCE and wonder
And mild surprise
Shall reveal my city
To human eyes.

The sea and the shore
And the lone lagoon
Shall show our beauty
And our boon.

And rising there
In spiral waves
The created wonder
Of our days

The Temple of Florence
Our pride and joy
Born at first
In the dream of a boy.

Our city
And our dream
Consummated
Beam on beam. 

Published in Opportunity, July 1928

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