Poetry

By the recommendation of a friend I picked up this book of poetry on Inter-library loan. I am SO glad I did! What a treasure! I am considering adding it to my Christmas list. So for your reading enjoyment today a poem and pictures.

An Evening with a Child

We walk along a road
at the day's end, a little child and I,
and she points out a bird, a tree, a toad,
a stretch of colored sky.

She knows no single word
but "Ah" (with which all poems must commence,
at least in the heart's heart), and I am stirred
by her glad eloquence.



Her feet are yet unsure
of their new task; her language limited,
but her eyes see the earth in joy secure.
And it is time I said:



Let the proud walls come down!
Let the cold monarchy be taken over!
I give my keys to rust, and I disown
castles of stone for ambushed roads in clover.



All the vast kingdoms that I could attain
are less to me than the dusk is mild
and that I walk along a country lane
at evening with a child.



Jessica Powers (1946)