Under the Tree | Page 5

foot in the foamy part?And feel how the water runs over your toes.
The little black spiders that walk on the top?Of the water are hard and stiff and cool.?And I saw some wiggletails going around,?And some slippery minnows that live in the pool.
And where it is smooth there is moss on a stone,?And where it is shallow and almost dry?The rocks are broken and hot in the sun,?And a rough little water goes hurrying by.
THE WORM
Dickie found a broken spade?And said he'd dig himself a well;?And then Charles took a piece of tin,?And I was digging with a shell.
Then Will said he would dig one too.?We shaped them out and made them wide,?And I dug up a piece of clod?That had a little worm inside.
We watched him pucker up himself?And stretch himself to walk away.?He tried to go inside the dirt,?But Dickie made him wait and stay.
His shining skin was soft and wet.?I poked him once to see him squirm.?And then Will said, "I wonder if?He knows that he's a worm."
And then we sat back on our feet?And wondered for a little bit.?And we forgot to dig our wells?Awhile, and tried to answer it.
And while we tried to find it out,?He puckered in a little wad,?And then he stretched himself again?And went back home inside the clod.
A CHILD ASLEEP
I looked for him everywhere?Because I wanted him to play;?And then I found him on his bed?Asleep, but it was day.
His eyes were shut behind the lids--?He couldn't lift them up to see.?And I looked at him very long,?And something in him looked at me.
And he was something like a cat?That is asleep, or like a dog;?Or like a thing that's in the woods?All day behind a log.
And then I was afraid of it,?Of something that was sleeping there.?I didn't even say his name,?But I came down the stair.
LITTLE BUSH
(A Song)
A little bush?At the picnic place,?A little bush could talk to me.
I ran away?And hid myself,?And I found a bush that could talk to me,?A smooth little bush said a word to me.
AT THE WATER
I liked to go to the branch today;?I liked to play with the wiggletails there.?And five little smells and one big smell?Were going round in the air.
One was the water, a little cold smell,?And one was mud and that was more,?And one was the smell of cool wet moss,?And one was some fennel up on the shore.
And the one big smell came out of the mint,?And one was something I couldn't tell.?And the five little ones and the big one?All went together very well.
WATER NOISES
When I am playing by myself,?And all the boys are lost around,?Then I can hear the water go;?It makes a little talking sound.
Along the rocks below the tree,?I see it ripple up and wink;?And I can hear it saying on,?"And do you think? And do you think?"
A bug shoots by that snaps and ticks,?And a bird flies up beside the tree?To go into the sky to sing.?I hear it say, "Killdee, killdee!"
Or else a yellow cow comes down?To splash a while and have a drink.?But when she goes I still can hear?The water say, "And do you think?"
AMONG THE RUSHES
I saw a curly leaf and it was caught against the grassy side, And it was tangled in the watery grasses where the branch is wide; I had it for my little ark of rushes that must wait and hide.
I had it for my little Moses hidden where no one could see, The little baby Moses that nobody knew about but me.
And I was hiding in the flags and I was waiting all the day, And watching on the bank to see if Pharaoh's daughter came that way.
NUMBERS
When I can count the numbers far,?And know all the figures that there are,
Then I'll know everything, and I?Can know about the ground and sky,
And all the little bugs I see,?And I'll count the leaves on the silver-leaf tree,?And all the days that ever can be.
I'll know all the cows and sheep that pass,?And I'll know all the grass,
And all the places far away,?And I'll know everything some day.
IN THE NIGHT
The light was burning very dim,?The little blaze was brown and red,?And I waked just in time to see?A panther going under the bed.
I saw him crowd his body down?To make it fit the little space.?I saw the streaks along his back,?And bloody bubbles on his face.
Long marks of light came out of my eyes?And went into the lamp--and there?Was Something waiting in the room--?I saw it sitting on a chair.
Its only eye was shining red,?Its face was very long and gray,?Its two bent teeth were sticking out,?And all its jaw was torn away.
Its legs were flat against the chair,?Its arms were hanging like a swing.?It made its eye look into me,?But did not move or say a