Classic Poem

To Friend George Halprin

We know, soul, that Heaven
Must claim us soon,
As the ragged hues of clouds pass
And dissolve far beyond dawn.

Crippled and dull, I've once been
Borne to a farther end;
But the light returned to me,
For sake of friendship intend.

The world of people felt like
Manikins playing the life,
And after their good mark
They fitted in a marvelous strife.

The great color and sacred Mary
Were whirled in the eyes of Venus and Mars,
But the large sun-circle kept on
With the moon-disk and stars.

Milton wrote on his blindness, ending:
" They also serve who only stand and wait. "
God! — what a belief can mean! —
When meditation doth infinite treat.

But beauty shall not blind us
Nor hem our aspired growth;
Hand in arm we will walk together,
Thus slave through Nature's worth!