The Magpie Sings the Great Depression:
Selections from DeWitt Clinton High School's Literary Magazine, 1929-1942

Manhattan Moods

By Thomas Rake-Straw, '36

The Magpie, January 1936, v. 37, n.1, p. 11.

KALEIDOSCOPE
	I am startled by the color of things; The crimson of apples on a vendor's stand, The tawny brown of chestnuts, And the molten gold of oranges Piled tier on tier. Spring on a cool green hill, Clouds of pink orchard blossoms Tormented By a silver wind. Gray poplar boughs growing grayer In the lilac dusk, White clouds going to nest In the same blue corner, Of the moon's highway. I am startled by the color of things, The sulphur yellow of lemons, The molten gold of oranges Piled tier on tier, And the crimson of apples on a vendor's stand.
RAVINE
O city So high, Unfetter the sky, Bend back tall buildings Letting the jagged light Fall into our hands.	I was bound, Long ago, In your tall dark canyons, But looking up thru the slits To the sky, I hear the wind-torn birches cry.
STEAM SHOVEL
Throbbing, Man-made god, Flesh of iron, Blood of oil, Clanking metal jaws Eating Cool damp earth. Heart of flame, Teeth of steel Masticating nature.	Eat, eat The breast of earth, And conquer In the name of man Who made A god Of oil and steel And enslaved him To his work.
TWILIGHT
Roaring, clanking, Screaming sirens, Cries of some press extra From the throats of old men And urchins. Vendors pack away Their goods, Nodding mechanically	To surging crowds. Men with downcast eyes Shuffle aimlessly by, Discouraged, And tired to the bone— Starvation broods silently In darkened corners And death crouches in the shadow.
NIGHT TRAFFIC
Twisting paths of light Shining in the confusion Darting comet tails,	Flashing ruby trails, Gleaming in profusion Thru the sable night.

The Magpie Sings the Great Depression

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