Classic Poem

I

To you who vex me while I write
And at my pen do gently bite,
To you I will this verse indite.

It seems to me when I am dead
And centuries passed above my head

That I myself might think in trees
And sculpture nature's majesties
Carved in rock and changing seas.
I could conceive of all of these,
One of those angels that rehearse
Their dramas in the universe;
Whose moods are days and whose great hands
Embodied are in seas and lands.

Yes, I could be without a doubt
One of those angels that greatly shout
Planning tall hills and sunsets out.
But only God's Mother getting to sleep
The Eternal Babe would think to make
A little foolish thing like you!
Such are the things that mothers do.
Sometimes when in angelic skies
The great antiphonals arise
Of Archangelic melodies,
I'll say, " On earth and far away
Those are hills that last a day."

And when with glorious battle shout
They shake great Heaven inside out,
I'll say, " On earth and very far
That cry turns to a falling star."
But when through praises, prayers and pities
I hear the rhymes of ancient ditties,
Nursery songs to please God's Son,
In Heaven the very littlest one,
Then will I say, " Those are the kitties."
In you a sign to us is given
To show that there is fun in Heaven.

II

Before Abraham was " I am"
Upon the knees of His great Dam
Pretended that He was a Lamb,
And she would call Him " Little Lamb."
No sooner were they made than they
Straightway did begin to play,
While playing still His innocent game
How innocent to earth He came.
Him — playing still the Lamb of God —

They caught and bruised with many a rod
And killed Him for His lovely game.

Then earth did heave, the sky did rock
And Heaven itself received the shock.

He who loves not innocent play
He cannot breathe on Judgment Day.

For earth will not be saved at last
Through cataclysms strange and vast
But by exquisite deep games,
Salvation just by changing names.
Mary to Jehovah will disclose
The funny things that Jesus does.

And tall archangels hear those things
And rustle their amused great wings.

When God comes in His great state
The foolish shall confound the great.

As darling children charm away
All that is less sweet than they,
We'll be saved by God's sweet play.

And earth shall come to an end at last
With laughter rich and warm and vast.

III

To you who vex me while I write
And at my pen do gently bite,
To you I will this verse indite.

All through my flesh and through and through
The Holy Child enjoys you too.

I laugh at Him and He to me
Enraptured with your Infancy.

My heart knows well that you and He
Gamboled together at God's knee.

God Himself has not refused
To be exquisitely amused.

He loved you for your lovely fur
And listens closely for your purr.

Yes, Heaven is exquisite with fun —
The laughter of the Three-in-One

When they behold the Heavenly Boy
Playing games of childish joy;

Playing He is a Happy Door
With welcome for the weak and poor.

Playing He is a Loaf of Bread
By which the frail are comforted.

Playing He is the Living Tree
Danced around by you and me!

All through my flesh — yes through and through
The Holy Child enjoys you too.