Cross Roads

RESURRECTION

     You took the lilt from my heart of hearts,
        And the breath of song from my soul;
     And the mind of me that had once been free
        And buoyantly young, and whole;
     Grew calm and still as a barren sea,
        Where never a star beam shone,
     A sea where never a ripple danced—
        That reflected your face along.

     I walked in a daze down well-worn paths—
        Paths that your feet had trod;
     I thought your thoughts and I spoke your tongue,
        I knelt to your hostile God.
     And the dreams that had been a part of me,
        I tossed with a sigh away,
     And left to rust in the misty dust
        Of the land called Yesterday.

     My hands lay folded in slim repose,
        Quite as you bade them rest;
     Folded, meek, o'er the leaden heart
        That tortured my gypsie breast.
     And I smiled with my lips—my eyes were numb—
        I smiled for I never knew,
     That the mind of me was a lifeless sea,
        Reflecting the face of you!

     You took the lilt from my carefree life,
        And the song from my singing heart;
     But there came a day when the world grew gray,
        When I knew that we must part....
     So I tore you out of your soul-bound shrine—
        And, oh, though it caused me pain,
     I raised my face to the sky and knew
        That my song would come again!