SHADOWS
You come to me at twilight, when the others,
Are laughing in the fullness of their joy;
When glad-eyed women folk, when wives and mothers,
Are welcoming some other bronze-cheeked boy.
You come to me, all silent, in the gloaming,
A shadow form, with curly shadow hair—
And, dear, I somehow feel that you are roaming
Between two shadow worlds—the Here and There.
They ask me, do those others, why I wander
Down dewy lanes, alone, at eventide—
They do not know my heart's a shadow—yonder...
They do not know that part of me has died.
They do not know that your dear presence stands
Just out of reach with misty, wide-flung hands!
L'ENVOI
Only we two, dear... and the candlelight,
Seems to be softer than it was before,
Country and city, vivid dream lands, war—
Dear, they are very far from us to-night!
Woven of promise from life's golden loom,
Pale threads of light have bound us heart to heart;
Laughter and sorrow—they are things apart—
ALL OF OUR WORLD IS IN THIS LITTLE ROOM.
Outside the branches sway, and winter weather
Sweeps, with a cry of triumph, through the land
Dear, it is springtime, when you touch my hand—
Only we two, and magic, here together!