Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

LA FOI by KATHARINE ADAMS

First Line: THE BRANCHES OF THE TREES ARE BENDING CLOSE ABOVE
Last Line: OF THE NIGHT.
Subject(s): CHILDREN; PLAY; CHILDHOOD;
The branches of the trees are bending
Close above;
They have so sheltered us all day.
For we have wandered far
Since dawn,
Little Marcelle, Jean-Paul and I.
The flames were red and gold
That swept our grey roofed home;
They mingled with the sweetness
Of the sky.
Our playhouse and our treasures
All were burned away.
And then we called our mother's name;
Down blood strewn streets
And filled lanes
We called to her,
Until we found that we had come
To a roadway, cool and green,
And with the children tugging at my hands
I knew I must go on.
They are so young, but I ----
I am just fifteen.
We have come safely
Through wood-paths of dim gold,
And where the frondes of fern unfurl
We gathered mists of flowers,
And by a shadowed silver pool
We rested for a while.
Little Marcelle laughed to see
Her white feet gleaming;
We found ripe berries for our food
And through the fragrant afternoon
I knew my mother would
Come after us.
At twilight time we reached a road,
And far away from whence we came
I saw a black mass moving
Against a violet sky
As though an army were advancing.
And the same fear that I had known
At dawn in my home town
Came close to me.
But I looked up and saw one star --
And then I knew there was no fear.
So I have brought the children
To this wood,
And we shall sleep here
All the night;
Christ has so guided us all day;
Protecting trees and flowers are all around
The children lie each side of me;
I have unloosed my hair
And its gold gleaming covers them
And shines in the dim greenness;
My arms are flung each side of me
Upon the moss;
I see a far blue star
High through the tree tops --
It is the star told me
Christ is near.
We are all children --
Flowers and stars and trees --
It is so joyous to rest here
In the shimmering silence
Of the night.



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