A Tall Wall-A Poem
ARMOUR, RICHARD
A SHORT STORY ABOUT A TALL WALL They built a wall, a tall wall, a quick thick wall, But this was not enough. They built a wall behind the wall, With barbed wire coiled on top and barbed...
...They built a wall behind the wall, With barbed wire coiled on top and barbed wire coiled in between, A mortal coil to shuffle off but not to shuffle over or through...
...Richard Armour...
...And then, to make triply sure, Since they had made only doubly sure before, They built a wall behind the wall behind the wall...
...The last wall of all was built at the edge of the distant sea, And the few remaining builders, with a final slogan on their lips, Perhaps "All's wall that ends wall," And holding a brick in each hand, Took one last step backward into the sea And drowned...
...And they kept building walls, one behind the other, Until the land, which had been covered by farms and factories and homes, Was covered by walls, With barbed wire coiled on fop and barbed wire coiled in between...
Vol. 45 • October 1962 • No. 21
