Rain and roses

RAIN AND ROSES
By JEANNETTE FRASER HENSHALL To My Daughter Beulah
1923 THE STRATFORD CO., Publishers Boston, Massachusetts
Copyright, 1923 The STRATFORD CO., Publishers Boston, Mass. The Alpine Press, Boston, Mass., U. S. A.

FRIEND of my heart when you’re away I fashion for my tongue, A thousand things to say to you But dear heart when you come,
How needless is my well formed phrase, And my care chosen words, Take swift and sudden flight away, Like small wind-riven birds.
And with you here, my full glad heart Can only say, you’ve come. For all your touching, pleading ways But serve to make me dumb.
LONG, long ago in our old street Back from the busy road, An old deserted stone house stood Breaking beneath its load.
Such ruin that remained of peaks Stood out against the skies. And the memory of old things Looked from behind its eyes.
In summer time this dead old house Set in its flowery space. One likened to a stranger In a much too friendly place.
In winter time its creaking frame With all its falling beams, Was like a sea rocked sailor Grown weary of his dreams.