i was one of the skunks
that lived in your bungalow
i was beautiful to behold but
you took me to the schodack cemetery
well, it was the nassau animal guy who did
& he was nowhere near as good looking as I

I was in the darkness;
I could not see my words
Nor the wishes of my heart.
Then suddenly there was a great light --

"Let me into the darkness again."

I was in the darkness;
I could not see my words
Nor the wishes of my heart.
Then suddenly there was a great light --

"Let me into the darkness again."

I walked in a desert.
And I cried,
"Ah, God, take me from this place!"
A voice said, "It is no desert."
I cried, "Well, But --
The sand, the heat, the vacant horizon."
A voice said, "It is no desert."

I strove with none, for none was worth my strife.
Nature I loved and, next to Nature, Art:
I warm'd both hands before the fire of life;
It sinks, and I am ready to depart.

I stood upon a high place,
And saw, below, many devils
Running, leaping,
and carousing in sin.
One looked up, grinning,
And said, "Comrade! Brother!"

200

I stole them from a Bee—
Because—Thee—
Sweet plea—
He pardoned me!

I speak of legend
I speak of my ancestor.
I speak of the restless present
And of the final struggle in the future.

Never shall I die
While this untrammeled spirit-mine
Shall in hope's constellation shine
And faith-embraced my soul shall lie.

I see so deeply within myself.
Not needing my eyes, I can see everything clearly.
Why would I want to bother my eyes again
Now that I see the world through His eyes?