Ina Donna Coolbrith (Ина Донна Кулбрит)
Leaf and Blade
I AM a lowly grass-blade, A fair green leaf is she, Her little fluttering shadow Falls daily over me. She sits so high in sunshine, I am so low in shade, I do not think she ever Has looked where I am laid. She sings to merry music, She frolics in the light; The great moon plays the lover With her through half the night. The swift, sweet winds they flatter And woo her all the day, — I tremble lest the boldest Should carry her away. Only a little grass-blade, That dare not look so high, Yet, oh! not any love her One half so well as I. My little love — so happy! My love — so proud and fair! Would she might dwell forever In the sweet summer air. But, ah! the days will darken, The pleasant skies will pall, And pale, and parched, and broken, My little love down fall. And yet the thought most bitter Is not that she must die, But that even death should bring her To lie as low as I.
Ina Donna Coolbrith’s other poems:
