Clinton Joseph Masseck. At Thirty He Sings of a Day in Spring. Harriet Monroe, ed. Poetry: A Magazine of Verse. 1912-22

Harriet Monroe, ed. (1860–1936). Poetry: A Magazine of Verse. 1912–22.

At Thirty He Sings of a Day in Spring

By Clinton Joseph Masseck


SWIFT as the push of wind could drive me,
I ran the brookside,
Curving in and turning out
Toward the reaches of the distant meadows
Flaunting in the sun	5
Beyond my sight.

I cannot tell you why I ran.

I was ten years old …
And that morning Mother kissed me
And Father smiled a curious smile;	10
Then both of them turned me loose
Within the meadow,
White and green and gold
With the startled color of the May.

Perhaps they knew	15
I should find the path
To the orchard,
On the sheltered southern hill
Where peach and apple bloom were mingled.

Perhaps they knew	20
That dark would find me
Waking from my dreams
Of meadows infinite and eternal,
Greener far than the meadows of the earth,
Where I could run forever.	25

Perhaps they knew that I would waken
Dusted over, pollen-scented,
With my eyes like meadow pools
Mirroring the stars.