| ANTAGONISH As I was going up the stair, I met a man who wasn�t there!! He wasn�t there again today!! I wish, I wish he�d stay away!! THE MASKS OF LOVE I come in from a walk with you and they ask me if it is raining. I didn�t notice, but I�ll have to give them the right answer, or they�ll think I�m crazy. GIRL�S EYE-VIEW OF RELATIVES The thing to remember about fathers is, they�re men A girl has to keep in mind, They are dragon-seekers, bent on improbable rescues. Scratch any father, you find Someone chalk-full of qualms and romantic terrors, Believing change is a threat- Like your first shoes with heels, like your first bicycle It took such months to get. Walk in strange woods, they warn you about the snakes there. Climb, and they fear you�ll fall. Books, angular boys, or swimming in deep water- Father�s mistrust them all. Men are the worriers. It is difficult for them To learn what they must learn: How you have a journey to take, and very likely, For awhile, will not return. A mother�s hardest to forgive. Life is a fruit she longs to hand you, Ripe on a plate. And while you live, Relentlessly she understands you. SONG OF THE OPEN ROAD I think that I shall never see A billboard lovely as a tree. Indeed, unless the billboards fall, I�ll never see a tree at all. SITTING The degree of nothingness is important: to sit emptily in the sun receiving fire that is the way to mend an extraordinary world, sitting perfectly still and only remotely human. THOUGHTS When I can make my thoughts come forth To walk like ladies up and down, Each one puts on before the glass Her most becoming hat and gown. But oh, the shy and eager thoughts That hide and will not get them dressed, Why is it that they always seem So much more lovely than the rest? |