Poetry from Miscellaneous Authors

Where I Go

Climbing under
A barbed wire fence
By the railroad ties

Climbing over
The old stone wall
I am bound for the riverside

Well I go to the river
To soothe my mind
Ponder over
The crazy days of my life
Just sit and watch the river flow

Find a place
On the riverbank
The green rushes grow
See the wind
In the willow tree
In branches hanging low

Well I go to the river
To soothe my mind
Ponder over
The crazy days of my life
Watch the river flow
Aase my mind & soul
Where i go

Well I will go to the river
From time to time
Wander over
These crazy days in my mind
Watch the river flow
Where the willow branches grow
By the cool rolling waters
Moving gracefully and slow

Child it's lovely
Let the river take it all away
The mad pace, the hurry
The troubles, the worries
Just let the river take them all away
Flow away


-Natalie Merchant, "Where I Go" (Tigerlily)


The Return

Early is the evening, 
Reluctant the dawn;
Once there was summer;
Sudden it was gone.
It fell like a leaf,
Whirled downstream.
Was there ever summer,
Or only a dream?
Was ever a world
That was not November?
Once there was summer,
And this I remember

Cornflowers and daisies,
Buttercups and clover,
Black-eyed Susans and Queen-Anne's lace,
A wide green meadow,
And bees booming over,
And a little laughing girl with the wind in her face.

Strident are the voices
And hard lights shine;
Feral are the faces;
Is one of them mine?
Something is lost now,
Tarnished the gleam;
Was there ever nobleness,
Or only a dream?
Yes, and it lingers,
Lost not yet;
Something remains
Till this I forget

Cornflowers and clover,
Buttercups and daisies,
Black-eyed Susans under blue and white skies
And the grass waist high
Where the red cow grazes,
And a little laughing girl with faith in her eyes

-Ogden Nash, from THE PRIMROSE PATH, 1935