Cross Roads

COLORS

     I love color.
     I love flaming reds,
     And vivid greens,
     And royal flaunting purples.
     I love the startled rose of the sun at dawning,
     And the blazing orange of it at twilight.

     I love color.
     I love the drowsy blue of the fringed gentian,
     And the yellow of the goldenrod,
     And the rich russet of the leaves
     That turn at autumn-time....
     I love rainbows,
     And prisms,
     And the tinsel glitter
     Of every shop-window.

     I love color.
     And yet today,
     I saw a brown little bird
     Perched on the dull-gray fence
     Of a weed-filled city yard.
     And as I watched him
     The little bird
     Threw back his head
     Defiantly, almost,
     And sang a song
     That was full of gay ripples,
     And poignant sweetness,
     And half-hidden melody.

     1 love color....
     I love crimson, and azure,
     And the glowing purity of white.
     And yet today,
     I saw a living bit of brown,
     A vague oasis on a streak of gray,
     That brought heaven
     Very near to me.

POSSESSION
     (A TENEMENT MOTHER SPEAKS)

     Y' ain't as pretty as some babies are—
     But, oh, yer mine!
     Yer lil' fingers sorter seem t' twine
     Aroun' my soul.
     Yer eyes are bright, t' me, as any star,
     Yer hair's like gol'.

     Some people say yer hair is sandy-red,
     An' that yer eyes is sorter wan an' pale,
     An' that yer lil' body looks, well, frail....
     Y' ain't been fed
     Like rich folks children are....
     It takes fresh air
     Ter keep a baby fat an' strong an' pink!
     It takes more care,
     'N I have time ter give....
     An' yet, if God'll only let yer live—

     When yer first came,
     An' when I seen yer face, deep down inside
     My heart I felt—well, sorter broke an' tore,
     'Cause when yer came ter me I like ter died,
     An' I had lost my job, there at th' store.
     I looked at you, an' oh, it wasn't pride
     I felt, but bitterness an' shame!

     An' then yer gropin' fingers touched my hand,
     As helpless as a snow-flake in the air,
     Yer didn't know, yer couldn't understand,
     ('Cause yer was new t' this cold-hearted land),
     That life ain't fair!
     Yer didn't know if I was good, 'r bad,
     'R much ter see—
     Y' only knew that I belonged, an' oh,
     Yer trusted me!

     Somehow, right there, I didn't stop ter think
     That yer was white an' thin—instead o' pink,
     An' that yer lips, an' not yer eyes, was blue...
     I got t' thinkin' how, when work was through
     I'd sing t' yer, an' rock yer off t' rest.
     I got t' thinkin' that I had been blessed,
     More than th' richest girl I'd ever knew!
     An' oh, I held yer tight against my breast,
     An', lookin' far ahead, I dreamed an' planned
     That I would work th' fingers off my hand
     Fer you!
     An' mother-love swept on me like a tide,
     An', oh, I cried!

     Some people say yer hair is sandy-red,
     But they don't know;
     They say yer eyes is sorter pale an' weak,
     But it ain't so!
     It's jus' because yer never been well fed,
     An' never had a lil' cribby bed;
     It's jus' because yer never had a peek
     At th' blue sky—
     That's why!

     Yer ain't so pretty as some babies are,
     But, oh, t' me yer like a silver star
     That, through th' darkest night can smile an'
           shine....
     Yer ain't as pretty as some babies are,
     But, God, yer mine!