Rain and Roses

<h2><SPAN name="TWO_ROADS" id="TWO_ROADS"></SPAN>Two Roads</h2> <div class="poetry"> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> <span class="ig"><span class="letra">T</span>HERE are two roads near Joppa town<br/></span> <span class="ih">And here I doubting stood,<br/></span> <span class="i0">For one went winding round the hill<br/></span> <span class="i2">The other thru the wood.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">And if I took the winding road<br/></span> <span class="i2">’Twould lead me thru the mall,<br/></span> <span class="i0">Of noise and gossipers for which<br/></span> <span class="i2">I have no heart at all.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">Sweet briar nodded from the hill,<br/></span> <span class="i2">The blue bells from the shade.<br/></span> <span class="i0">A purple finch decided me,<br/></span> <span class="i2">So in the wood I stayed.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">A brooding bird and restless young,<br/></span> <span class="i2">Began to chide and fret.<br/></span> <span class="i0">And wonder in bird fashion what<br/></span> <span class="i2">I ever came to get.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">A green snake ran across my path<br/></span> <span class="i2">Its eyes were jewel small.<br/></span> <span class="i0">A flying squirrel left a tree,<br/></span> <span class="i2">That seemed ten paces tall.<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="page_13" id="page_13">{13}</SPAN></span><br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">I picked a fern that had uncurled<br/></span> <span class="i2">Itself from out the ground.<br/></span> <span class="i0">And O! the wood delighted me,<br/></span> <span class="i2">The way it stood around.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">And there were holy moments when<br/></span> <span class="i2">My very soul went still.<br/></span> <span class="i0">And sad I was for folks who took<br/></span> <span class="i2">The road around the hill.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">And when I left the sancted place,<br/></span> <span class="i2">My arms were loaded down.<br/></span> <span class="i0">It cost me not one pang to shun,<br/></span> <span class="i2">The road to Joppa town.<br/></span> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="page_14" id="page_14">{14}</SPAN></span></div> </div></div> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />