An Empty Whole Poem by Annie Cordelia Adams

I suddenly feel free
like I've reached the top of the mountain,
but not the reaching that has turned the key

i suddenly feel released;
its the sight of the fair view sky
not the accomplishment, but the feast

i am openly found free
like the sky is no longer the limit
when that sad song plays, i feel un-marine

i groped for the sea
for so long a time as was not known to man
i lived an eternity in just two hands

blue was my color
and red was the blood that washed afar
on the horizon, for which my heart was bore

an empty whole
for an empty soul; for whom the bell tolls, Ask:
and I will answer, it is I

toll, troll, free!
every wave trolled its voice
by the Sirens I was mesmerized

rapid, commanding
now the Sea is but a memory
of what i used to hunger and crave

in all my lust for its gifts
i held in my hand a thing i would never own
It never came to pass, a tale, unknown

an empty whole
i stood on the sad, blue shore
though when the tide drew back
I felt as i hadn't before

an empty whole
now i am left unarmed
though i do not grieve for the Sea,
in my sky, i conceive i have not a single star

an empty whole
i truly loved the Sea
and now that I know he cannot love
I suddenly feel free