"The Poet's Corner..."

"Absence"*
Katherine Bradley and Edith Cooper

Sometimes I know the way
You walk, up over the bay;
It is a wind from that far sea
That blows the scent of you to me.

Or in this garden when the breeze
Touches my trees
To stir their dreaming shadows on the grass
I see you pass.

In sheltered beds, the heart of every rose
Serenely sleeps to-night. As shut as those
Your guarded heart; as safe as they from the beat, beat
Of hooves that tread dropped roses in the street.

Turn never again
On these eyes blind with a wild rain
Your eyes; they were stars to me.--
There are things stars may not see.

But call, call, and though Christ stands
Still with scarred hands
Over my mouth, I must answer. So
I will come--He shall let me go!


* gender pronouns and similes were modified from the original text