With my caravan & horses, shadows out
of shade we steal
From the town where busy people have
forgotten how to feel.
We have shared earth's hidden laughter
when the land was warm with spring
When the breezes through the cornfield left
the grasses tittering
And the trees like old man creaking
as they shook with kindly mirth
While the earth was gay & splendid
in the strength of her new birth
And we poured forth all our gladness
till an echo back was flung
For we shared the vibrant joy it was
to be alive & young-
I have felt the soft commotion of a
thousand breathless sighs
When the whole world waits a-tremble
& the tempest stalks the skies
Known something leap in answer to
the storms wild, restless beat
And the little winds have tugged me,
they have led my eager feet-
to the revels of the cliff-top, to the
wild & tumultuous might-
Shaken in its savage splendour,
swept to its ecstatic height
Till the glory of the tempest became
only one small part
Of my greater satisfaction and the
throbbing of my heart.
I have lain upon the uplands &
have never heard a stir,
And have cried my hurt & puzzlement
into the earth's green hair
I have found the gnarled comfort
that there is in knotted wood
While I only knew the smell of soil
beneath my tears was good.
Till lifting up my eyes again
upon me softly stole
the compassion of earth's still
things & mutely touched my soul.