The path runs straight between the flowering rows,

A moonlit path, hemmed in by beds of bloom,

Where phlox and marigolds dispute for room

With tall, red dahlias and the briar rose.

‘T is reckless prodigality which throws

Into the night these wafts of rich perfume

Which sweep across the garden like a plume.

Over the trees a single bright star glows.

Dear garden of my childhood, here my years

Have run away like little grains of sand;

The moments of my life, its hopes and fears

Have all found utterance here, where now I stand;

My eyes ache with the weight of unshed tears,

You are my home, do you not understand?

***

More poems by Amy Lowell