i tried to write a poem
a poem just for You
but when i sought to find the words
like hummingbirds, they flew!

i tried to bake some cookies
a dozen, just for You
but before they hit the oven
we'd shared the yummy goo

i tried to paint a picture
a picture just for You
but the colors all ran out of line
like sunlight through the dew

i tried to plant a garden
wildflowers, just for You
but when i'd tilled and sown the soil
too tall for me they grew!

i tried to find a treasure
a treasure just for You
but when i looked inside the chest
i found a gift from You

i tried to tell a story
a mystery, just for You
but when i lost the villain's trail
'twas You who found the clue

i tried to catch some fireflies
green starlight, just for You
but you smiled, and set the lightning free
when i brought my lamp to You

i tried to find the perfect shell
a conch shell, just for You
but all i found were little stars
who tickled like You do!

i tried to find an angel
an angel just for You
but when i told her who You were
she said "you can't have two"

i tried to catch a falling star
a wish, made just for You
but when i did, You said "My dear,
all I've wished for is in you…"

i tried to write a poem
a poem just for You
this time i found all the words
to tell the world of You

67

Success is counted sweetest
By those who ne’er succeed.
To comprehend a nectar
Requires sorest need.

Not one of all the purple Host
Who took the Flag today
Can tell the definition
So clear of Victory

As he defeated—dying—
On whose forbidden ear
The distant strains of triumph
Burst agonized and clear!

327

Before I got my eye put out
I liked as well to see—
As other Creatures, that have Eyes
And know no other way—

But were it told to me—Today—
That I might have the sky
For mine—I tell you that my Heart
Would split, for size of me—

The Meadows—mine—
The Mountains—mine—
All Forests—Stintless Stars—
As much of Noon as I could take
Between my finite eyes—

The Motions of the Dipping Birds—
The Morning’s Amber Road—
For mine—to look at when I liked—
The News would strike me dead—

So safer—guess—with just my soul
Upon the Window pane—
Where other Creatures put their eyes—
Incautious—of the Sun—

712

Because I could not stop for Death—
He kindly stopped for me—
The Carriage held but just Ourselves—
And Immortality.

We slowly drove—He knew no haste
And I had put away
My labor and my leisure too,
For His Civility—

We passed the School, where Children strove
At Recess—in the Ring—
We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain—
We passed the Setting Sun—

Or rather—He passed Us—
The Dews drew quivering and chill—
For only Gossamer, my Gown—
My Tippet—only Tulle—

We paused before a House that seemed
A Swelling of the Ground—
The Roof was scarcely visible—
The Cornice—in the Ground—

Since then—’tis Centuries—and yet
Feels shorter than the Day
I first surmised the Horses’ Heads
Were toward Eternity—

Oh, orange tree,
Your bark adorned
With wicked-looking
Three-inch thorns,
Needle-sharp
Each one of them
Protruding both
From branch and stem,
Perhaps you want
To pierce the hand
Outstretched by
Some unwary man,
That he may not pick
Nor may not eat
Your fruit that is
So very sweet.

From Entertaining Verse Poems
©Blair Gowrie (Roderick Macdonald)
http://www.goo.gl/KDCb4a