In spite of war, in spite of death,
In spite of all man's sufferings,
Something within me laughs and sings
And I must praise with all my breath.
In spite of war, in spite of hate
Lilacs are blooming at my gate,
Tulips are tripping down the path
In spite of war, in spite of wrath.
"Courage!" the morning-glory saith;
"Rejoice!" the daisy murmureth,
......
Today I have been issued a dare, by my peer,
If I do what they ask I will get in trouble, but they swear,
my life they will not spear
And if I don't they will make me into a rubble I am so
scared, who cares?
Tonight I can't sleep, this trouble is too deep,
I can't make a peep, I began to weep,
Is there no one who cares? That I am so scared?
Because of my Peers, I am filled with fears
I cried out in despair, is there no one who cares?
......
I WALK through the long schoolroom questioning;
A kind old nun in a white hood replies;
The children learn to cipher and to sing,
To study reading-books and histories,
To cut and sew, be neat in everything
In the best modern way -- the children's eyes
In momentary wonder stare upon
A sixty-year-old smiling public man.
I dream of a Ledaean body, bent
Above a sinking fire. a tale that she
......
Tears, idle tears, I know not what they mean,
Tears from the depth of some divine despair
Rise in the heart, and gather to the eyes,
In looking on the happy Autumn-fields,
And thinking of the days that are no more.
Fresh as the first beam glittering on a sail,
That brings our friends up from the underworld,
Sad as the last which reddens over one
That sinks with all we love below the verge;
......
Between us now and here--
Two thrown together
Who are not wont to wear
Life's flushest feather--
Who see the scenes slide past,
The daytimes dimming fast,
Let there be truth at last,
Even if despair.
......
A Fool's Saint
There’s saints for all —
For fishers too!
But fools stand tall,
Their plight askew.
Their numbers reign,
No saint in sight!
Yet once again,
......
It was not the first day,
I do not know if it would be the last.
Somewhere I hope it to be,
but I keep telling myself I do not.
The spring leaves are grey,
the blossoming flowers look wilted.
the water of the river have gone still,
there is no mound in the soils.
In this vast open space,
surrounded by the great north mounts,
......
I hear the silence in the way they blink,
the ignorance raining on me,
its ridiculous- I am ridiculous.
it is the answer granted to me.
Every time I glance upon myself on the window,
even the clown of the circus laughs,
bowing down to me- in pity or respect or tease,
I shall take it, I’m desperate, so what?
Should I stop or let it flow,
I fear even the night breeze hides from me.
......
Love is the light of the Almighty,
Rising softly in the heart, greeting the soul,
Flowing like a river in the valley of life,
Bringing hope to life amidst despair.
It is present without form, but felt,
Erasing wounds, stringing together hopes,
Uniting souls that were once separated,
In the arms of love that never tires.
......
I don’t see a new horizon,
And the old one’s disappeared.
On the wind, I smell the poison;
It just lingers in the air.
The dust clouds block the sunshine,
And the skies are no longer blue.
The world is slowly fading,
But all I miss is you.
This is not a love song;
......