Madness
(For Sara Teasdale)
 
The lonely farm, the crowded street,
   The palace and the slum,
Give welcome to my silent feet
   As, bearing gifts, I come.
 
Last night a beggar crouched alone,
   A ragged helpless thing;
I set him on a moonbeam throne—
   Today he is a king.
 
Last night a king in orb and crown
   Held court with splendid cheer;
Today he tears his purple gown
   And moans and shrieks in fear.
 
Not iron bars, nor flashing spears,
   Not land, nor sky, nor sea,
Nor love’s artillery of tears
   Can keep mine own from me.
 
Serene, unchanging, ever fair,
   I smile with secret mirth
And in a net of mine own hair
   I swing the captive earth.


Webpage © 2001 ELC
Lane Core Jr. (lane@elcore.net)
http://poetry.elcore.net/CatholicPoets/KilmerJ/KilmerJ55.html
Created April 3, 2001; not revised.