ellisislandpoem.com

The stable text of Ellis Island is divided into 52 books each containing 12 sonnets of 14 lines each. This page presents a Random Sonnet based on that text. The numerals in the left column of this page indicate book, sonnet, and line numbers that identify the source of each line in the stable text.

 

821for some years our best sculptors have been carving mainly in ice
29101we reconstitute the saint christopher medals as pills which we still sell cheap
44108keep the paper moving means of course read the paper and understand it
 
3193the knot of medieval authority forever paralyzing italians all over again
3974even your terrors are traditional realities established walking
4912it knocks me down and has done so many times this poetry writing
 
33123he builds up to a raging coda and then i run to find my mother to console me
50101whitman compared himself with the grass and planned to return to the grass
543the hair falls out of their heads onto the floor like dry leaves
 
17513and using a new story we fill these old sunken highways with dirt
3146we began in a wastepaper basket and after years of struggle occupied a small desk
3296american artillery made houses collapse in dust puffs as if nothing had happened
 
51513people debate what should be done with the many ellis island buildings not in use
29911rivers of feeling ran through saint francis roaring like torrents in a canyon