The Black Finger

Angelina Weld Grimké

  I have just seen a most beautiful thing,
                     Slim and still,
              Against a gold, gold sky,
              A straight black cypress,
                     Sensitive,
                     Exquisite,
                     A black finger
                     Pointing upwards.
Why, beautiful still finger, are you black?
And why are you pointing upwards?

This poem is in the public domain. Published in Poem-a-Day on October 29, 2021, by the Academy of American Poets.