Poems By a Little Girl Part 12

You forget, But the wind remembers.

THE APPLE-JELLY-FISH-TREE

Down in the depths of the sea Grew the Apple-Jelly-Fish-Tree.

It was named by a queer old robber And his mates three.

I watched it for a second, I watched it for a day.

It did not change color For its colors stay.

It was as red, as yellow, as white, as blue As gold and stones with the light through!

I watched it long and long Till a flying sunfish Swam through its branches.

He had opal wings And a sapphire tail.

No wonder robbers like to stay Where fish so s.h.i.+ning come to play!

THREE LOVES

Angel-love, Fairy-love, Wave-love, Which will you choose?

Angel-love . . . golden-yellow and far white . . .

Fairy-love . . . golden yellow and green . . .

Wave-love . . . scarlet and azure blue . . .

Which will you choose?

I will keep them in a box Locked with a twisted key.

I will give them to people who need love, I will let them choose.

Fairy-love blows away like leaves.

Angels I know little about.

For myself I choose wave-love Because of the wind and the sea and my heart.

THE FIELD OF WONDER

What could be more wonderful Than the place where I walk sometimes?

Swaying like trees in rain . . .

Swaying like trees in suns.h.i.+ne When breezes stir nothing but happiness . . .

What could be more lovely?

I walk in the Field of Wonder Where colors come to be; I stare at the sky . . .

I feel myself lifting on the wind As the swallows lift and blow upward . . .

I see colors fade out, they die away . . .

I blow across a cloud . . . I am lifted . . .

How can I change again into a little girl When wings are in my feeling of gladness?

This is strange to know On a summer day at noon, This is a wild new joy When summer is over.

The scarlet of three maple trees Will guide me home, Oh mother my dear!

Fear nothing: I will come home Before snow falls!

MOON DOVES

The moon has a dove-cote safe and small, Hid in the velvet sky: The doves are her companions sweet; She has no others.

Moon doves on the wing are white As a valley of stars, When they fly, there is s.h.i.+ning Like a golden river.

I see so many whirling away and away, How can they get home again?

The moon is calm and never wears an anxious look, She goes on smiling.

I hear so many doves along the sky How will her dove-cote hold them?

The moon says not one word to me; She lets me wonder.

I WENT TO SEA

I WENT to sea in a gla.s.s-bottomed boat And found that the loveliest sh.e.l.ls of all Are hidden below in valleys of sand.

I saw coral and sponge and weed And bubbles like jewels dangling.

I saw a creature with eyes of mist Go by slowly.

Star-fish fingers held the water . . .

Let it go again . . .

I saw little fish, the children of the sea; They were gay and busy.

I wanted the sea-weed purple; I wanted the sh.e.l.ls; I wanted a little fish to hold in my hands; I wanted the big fish to stop wandering about, And tell me all they knew . . .

I have come back safe and dry And know no more secrets Than yesterday!

THREE THOUGHTS OF MY HEART

As I was straying by the forest brook I heard my heart speak to me: Listen; said my heart, I have three thoughts for you . . .

a thought of clouds, A thought of birds, A thought of flowers.

I sat upon a cus.h.i.+on of moss, Listening, Where the light played, and the green shadows: What would you do . . . I asked my heart . . .

If you were a floating s.h.i.+p of the sky . . .

If you were a peering bird . . .

If you were a wild geranium?

And my heart made answer: That is what I wonder and wonder!

After all it is life I love, After all I am a living thing, After all I am the heart of you . . .

I am content!

SNOW-CAPPED MOUNTAIN