Paris, April 1st, 1922
A mile of clean sand. I will write my name here, and the trouble that is in my heart. I will write the name & place of my birth, What I was to be, And what I am. I will write my forty sins, my thousand follies, My four unspeakable acts. . . . I will write the names of the cities I have fled from, The names of men & women I have wronged. I will write the holy name of her I serve, And how I serve her ill. And I will sit on the beach & let the tide come in. I will watch with peace the great calm tongue of the tide Licking from the sand the unclean story of my heart.
Edna St. Vincent Millay



















