THE SECRET ORCHARDS

BEHIND the never-pausing outward show

Of hungers, angriness, despair

The secret orchards keep their amber glow ;

From glittering branches stream on the limpid air

A thousand intermingled hues

Of the myriad fruits which never lose

The star-like radiances of prayer,

The strong abundant sap of life,

The melodies set free with onset of the breeze :

And like a cloud with aspiration rife

Ascends the odorous balsam from that shimmering realm of trees.

March 25, 1936.