Page:Caroling Dusk.pdf/190

168 Across the shining dunes, perhaps I shall Be following a desert caravan.

I may pass through centuries of death With quiet eyes, but I'll remember still A jungle tree with burning scarlet birds. There is something I have forgotten, some precious thing. I shall be seeking ornaments of ivory, I shall be dying for a jungle fruit.

You do not hear, Bethesda. O still green water in a stagnant pool! Love abandoned you and me alike. There was a day you held a rich full moon Upon your heart and listened to the words Of men now dead and saw the angels fly. There is a simple story on your face; Years have wrinkled you. I know, Bethesda! You are sad. It is the same with me.

the golden hour Will tick its last And the flame will go down in the flower.

A briefer length of moon Will mark the sea-line and the yellow dune.