Upon a broken stem.
I heard them say, ‘What need to care
With roses budding everywhere?’
I did not answer them.
There was a bird, brought down to die;
They said, ‘A hundred fill the sky-
What reason to be sad?’
There was a girl, whose lover fled;
I did not wait, the while they said,
‘There’s many another lad.’
His words ring sweet as a chime of gold,And his eyes are lit with laughter.He is jubilant as a flag unfurled —Oh, a girl, she’d not forget him.My own dear love, he is all my world, —And I wish I’d never met him.My love, he’s mad, and my love, he’s fleet,And a wild young wood-thing…
If you can read it, well and good;But as for me, I never could.
Acids stain you;And drugs cause cramp.Guns aren’t lawful;Nooses give;Gas smells awful;You might as well live.
‘No more she lives to give us breadWho asked her only stones.’
Though I dress and drink and eat,Move my fingers and my feet,Learn a little, here and there,Weep and laugh and sweat and swear,Hear a song, or watch a stage,Leave some words upon a page,Claim a foe, or hail a friend-Bed awaits me at the end.Though I go in pride and strength,I’ll come back to bed…
All silver-like and calm and bright-We’ve not had stars like that again!‘And she was such a gentle thingTo birth a baby in the cold.The barn was dark and frightening-This new one’s better than the old.‘I mind my eyes were full of tears,For I was young, and quick distressed,But she was less than me in yearsThat…
