Cross Roads | Page 7

tree --
It touches your joyous hair;?And the touch of it is as soft and light
As a baby's lisping prayer.
Somewhere, dear, there's a bit of beach
Where the sand is warm and white;?Where the sky seems close and the drifting clouds
Are tenderly, warmly bright.?And there is a ship with turquoise sails,
With sails like a living light!
Ah, the ship is bringing us dreams come true,
And hopes that are all dew-kissed;?It is bringing us days that are all aglow
With scarlet and amethyst; . . .?Bringing us faith to find our way
Through a world that is wrapped in mist.
Our window looks on the city street,
We can glimpse the city sky;?But our hearts are gay at the close of day,
Though the tired crowds pass by?With heavy feet through the blinding heat,
Like a sullen, sluggish tide. . . .?For hand in hand through a magic land.
We are wandering side by side.
THE LADY ACROSS THE COURT
She only comes when night is near,
And stands a moment quietly?Beside her window, in the dusk --
She lives across the court from me --?And though I cannot see her eyes
Because she is too far away,?I somehow feel that they are kind,
And very soft, and widely gray!
Her hands are only dim white blurs,
That rest against the window pane;?And yet I know that they are firm,
And cool and sweet as April rain.?And, oh, I cannot help but wish
As, through the dark, I go to bed,?That they might rest a moment like
A little prayer upon my head!
She only comes when night is near,
I do not know who she can be;?I never see her anywhere
But just across the court from me. . . .?I am so small the curtains hide
The wistful smiles that I have smiled,?And yet I, somehow, think she feels
The love of me -- a lonely child.
TO A PORCELAIN PUPPY DOG
Oh, pudgy porcelain puppy dog from far-away Japan,
I saw you in a shop to-day where lonesomely you
sat?Upon a velvet cushion that was colored gold and
purple,?Between a bowl of goldfish, and a sleeping wooden
cat.
I wonder what you thought about as stolidly you sat
there,?A grin of faint derision on your pudgy porcelain
face;?I wonder if you dreamed about some cherry blossom
tea house,?And if the goldfish bored you in their painted
Chinese case?
I wonder if you dreamed about the laughter of the
geishas?As languidly they danced across the shining
lacquered floor,?I wonder if your thoughts were with a purple clump
of iris?That bloomed, all through the summer, by the
little tea house door?
I wonder if you hated us who passed, you by unheeding,?You who had known the temples of another, older
land??And, oh, I wonder if you knew when I had paused
beside you?To pat you, porcelain puppy dog, that I could
understand?
COLORS
I love color.?I love flaming reds,?And vivid greens,?And royal flaunting purples.?I love the startled rose of the sun at dawning,?And the blazing orange of it at twilight.
I love color.?I love the drowsy blue of the fringed gentian,?And the yellow of the goldenrod,?And the rich russet of the leaves?That turn at autumn-time. . . .?I love rainbows,?And prisms,?And the tinsel glitter?Of every shop-window.
I love color.?And yet today,?I saw a brown little bird?Perched on the dull-gray fence?Of a weed-filled city yard.?And as I watched him?The little bird?Threw back his head?Defiantly, almost,?And sang a song?That was full of gay ripples,?And poignant sweetness,?And half-hidden melody.
1 love color. ...?I love crimson, and azure,?And the glowing purity of white.?And yet today,?I saw a living bit of brown,?A vague oasis on a streak of gray,?That brought heaven?Very near to me.
POSSESSION?(A TENEMENT MOTHER SPEAKS)
Y' ain't as pretty as some babies are --?But, oh, yer mine!?Yer lil' fingers sorter seem t' twine?Aroun' my soul.?Yer eyes are bright, t' me, as any star,?Yer hair's like gol'.
Some people say yer hair is sandy-red,?An' that yer eyes is sorter wan an' pale,?An' that yer lil' body looks, well, frail. . ..?Y' ain't been fed?Like rich folks children are. . . .?It takes fresh air?Ter keep a baby fat an' strong an' pink!?It takes more care,?'N I have time ter give. . . .?An' yet, if God'll only let yer live --
When yer first came,?An' when I seen yer face, deep down inside?My heart I felt -- well, sorter broke an' tore,?'Cause when yer came ter me I like ter died,?An' I had lost my job, there at th' store.?I looked at you, an' oh, it wasn't pride?I felt, but bitterness an' shame!
An' then yer gropin' fingers touched my hand,?As helpless as a snow-flake in the air,?Yer didn't know, yer couldn't understand,?('Cause yer was new t' this cold-hearted land),?That life ain't fair!?Yer didn't know if I was good, 'r bad,?'R much ter see --?Y' only knew that I belonged, an' oh,?Yer trusted me!
Somehow, right there, I didn't stop ter think?That yer was white an' thin -- instead o' pink,?An' that yer lips, an' not yer eyes, was blue. . .?I got t' thinkin' how, when work was through?I'd