Rain and Roses

<h2><SPAN name="A_CITY_GUEST" id="A_CITY_GUEST"></SPAN>A City Guest</h2> <div class="poetry"> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> <span class="ig"><span class="letra">T</span>HE wonder never went out of her eyes<br/></span> <span class="ih">When she saw the sweep of our wide blue skies,<br/></span> <span class="i0">The things we farmers forget in the pain<br/></span> <span class="i0">Of sowing and planting and reaping again.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">Things taken for granted loose the touch<br/></span> <span class="i0">Of newness and dazzle we love so much.<br/></span> <span class="i0">While she, soft-eyed and with shining face,<br/></span> <span class="i0">Found pleasure in all things about the place.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">She gathered the flowers in wind and rain<br/></span> <span class="i0">That we called common and tho’t real plain.<br/></span> <span class="i0">From the sweep of our lawn to the poppy bed<br/></span> <span class="i0">Flaunting their colors about her head.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">Till we ourselves looked with glad new eyes<br/></span> <span class="i0">On an old, old setting, but a new sunrise.<br/></span> <span class="i0">Cold grey days she would rise and sing<br/></span> <span class="i0">For she found beauty in everything.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">Will she ever know in the city street<br/></span> <span class="i0">How we think of her when the snow and sleet,<br/></span> <span class="i0">Make houses enjoyable things to own,<br/></span> <span class="i0">How often we mention her name at home?<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="page_23" id="page_23">{23}</SPAN></span><br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">Can she ever know with her warm flower heart,<br/></span> <span class="i0">How she gave us back what we lost in part.<br/></span> <span class="i0">How the thought of her when it’s cold with rain,<br/></span> <span class="i0">Fills the house and the halls, with herself again.<br/></span> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="page_24" id="page_24">{24}</SPAN></span></div> </div></div> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />