I Seek a Child

How still the house when no child calls
As the velvet curtain of dusk slow falls,
With the sun's robe trailing still in the west
While all of the wild things seek their nest.
I flee from rooms too immaculate
With a yearning glance at the little white gate,
Wishing a small boy were swinging there,
That children's laughter would cleave the air
Too silent now ... Yet the silence speaks
Of five who came trooping with wild rose cheeks,
Their arms filled with bluebells, to wait in bliss
To receive my smile and thank-you kiss.
I walk through my gardens: Not a flower is crushed
By little feet. The breeze grows hushed
And the river's song is lonely-themed.
Though I have the leisure of which I dreamed,
When a killdeer-chime rings overhead,
I seek a child to put to bed.

Good Night My Son

Good night, my son, may you enjoy sweet dreams
And wake refreshed from your sound, restful sleep.
Your face shows manhood's strength, and yet it seems
But yesterday since God loaned you to keep
Until he called you Home. I still can see
Your golden curls, your deep-blue laughing eyes.
I wonder if in immortality
Our thoughts will reach you there beyond the skies;
And if your prayers, "Bless Mother and bless Dad,"
Will help us live that we may come there too?
Tonight my heart is filled, my grown-up lad,
With gratitude to God for sending you
For us to cherish for a few short years.
Good night, my son, my eyes know thankful tears.

Song of Fulfillment

Morning Wonder

"Your call is clear."--It was my teacher's voice--
"In marriage you will never be fulfilled.
Your star is rising" ... Pondering my choice,
The song of motherhood would not be stilled.
Could echoes, not the singing, bring content?
Acclaim? And never know the miracle
Of life beneath my heart; the wonderment
Of the shadowed valley, God there merciful?
A babe's first cry, my triumph! In my ear
Child voices whispered; I saw reaching hands ...
How could I let another bring them here,
My heritage be stone and barren strands?
My soul held morning-wonder as I dreamed
While far away a Temple spire gleamed.

High Noon Ecstasy

So morning passed, and at high noon I knelt
Before the altar with my love and spoke
Forever-vows. The seal of Heaven felt,
The "first command" renewed to us awoke
The lyrics of creation's primal song
Safe-locked within the chalice of my heart.
And in the heart of my young god, chaste-strong,
They rang--my song to his a counterpart.
We knew a prayer-sweet, mounting ecstasy
As birth ... and death ... bequeathed our home a soul.
Dreams were as shadows to reality;
Time spun for us fulfillment's aureole.
Life's fount was deep and clear with crystal bars;
The cup held to my lips, a cup of stars.

Silver Twilight

My sun, still high, was darkened. Spent with tears,
I knew the blighting kiss of early frost.
Along a pathway shadowed by my fears,
My children gently led me till I crossed
The bridge of hope to peace, and lifted up
My eyes to see the sun--And now they bring
Their babes ... I drink from my own star-filled cup
While beauty rims the shadows lingering.
Above the bronzing hills of truth where still
I garner dreams, I see my rising star ...
Forever vows! Beyond the last high hill,
The ultimate fulfillment ... My eyes afar,
I glimpse the grandeur of the choice I made,
And walk the silver twilight unafraid.