Little Dust and Other Poems By Richard R.^Kirk With Decorations by Jan W. Vonesh CHICAGO THE BOOKFELLOWS CHRISTMAS, 1920 One thoiLsand copies of this hooTcly joy have heen printed for The Bookfellows ly Luther Albertus Brewer, BooTcfellow No. 14, just he fore Christmas, 1920. Acknowledgment is made to Contemporary Verse and The Boston Transcript for permission to republish poems in this hooTclet, Mr. Kirk the author is Bookfellow No. 249 and Mr. Vonesh the illustrator is Bookfellow No. 15. Copyright 1920 by Flora Warren Seymour )) CI, A 6 4 -^ '1, 7 "^"^ TORCH PRESS '■ ^ ' CEDAR RAPIDS IOWA ^' 1920 it 9- k XJ^ Little Dust and Other Poems LITTLE DUST NTIL I saw the little dust Of Cassar in an urn I thought with those who say, We go And never more return. But when I saw the little dust That would not mend a wall, I knew that God could never make Myself or you so small. GOD STOOPS As children gather flowers, So fain is God to gather The fragrant flowers that blossom In His garden. The little prayers that brush His garment 's hem, God stoops to gather them. WE VISIT MY ESTATE That cloud, now ! — Just below that strip of blue ! You like it ? — That's mine too ! so BROTHERLY! A tree, as I Was passing by, Took off my hat, And laughed thereat ! Good comrade tree! To laugh with me. I laid me down With face a-frown; A little brook With laughter shook. Then, comrade true, I laughed with you! In meadow land On either hand They greeted me So brotherly! . . . REWARDS Who may this flower be, I can guess; And whose the loveliness Of that fair tree ; But who became this stone, I do not know ; Some coldly cruel one Of long ago. THE MAKE-BELIEVE As I bent down to spy a flower, Or reached to touch a spray, Or shut my eyes to hear a bird, You smiled and slipped away. I know my part, and look and look. Feign wonder, go resigned. It's yonder rock or yonder tree That keeps me, seeing, blind. THE SUN KEPT IN I think the Sun will be right glad again. To see our Garden, after all this rain ! HASTE I dream, I dream, I dream . . . I run, I run To catch my dream, a bubble in the sun I see but cannot touch, I love and love o 'ermuch ! I dream, I dream, and day is almost done. I run, I run . . . and, oh, the stars o 'erhead. And oh, the flowers, the sweet bruised flowers I tread! MY LITTLE DONKEY My little donkey sometimes overlooks My garden like a reader of strange books, As if to say, Why flowers ? Dear little ass ! Too honest to deny that you love grass ! WHAT MEN DISPRIZE "Wise talk of foolish things I cannot prize ; I must talk like a child, Of rivers and mountains and skies. For a child's heart I yearn, And for a child's eyes, To see, for a day and a night, What men disprize. IN THOUGHT Yon, in my thought of you, Are like a blossom on a tree ; And only I can touch you there, I, who at will am bird or bee ! FOOLISH PETALS ! foolish petals ! with the first gay breeze, To leave the green tranquility of trees ! 8 THE SUN-DIAL My roses cannot see the dial 's face ; My bees have their own creed; The silly birds that flit from place to place Will never learn to read ; Only I and you, idle and wise, Know how time flies ! OUR CONSIDERATE CAT Our cat for music has no ear, Yet sings despite. I guess she thinks we cannot hear By night. 9 CUP-BEARERS God makes us children first That we may fill Cups for the years of thirst On every hill, And pluck from every tree Fair fruits of Memory For the years that are to be. DEFLOWERED Deflowered, yet sweet with summer fragrances, O Garden ! you and I have memories, Though every leaf be fallen from our trees ! FLIGHT Time has a way Of banishing From each to-day Some lovely thing; From each to-day Some thing loved most Time thrusts away, 'Tis spent, 'tis lost! Time has a way, alas!- Time has a way! 10 LATE It is soon by the clock, I need not go For an hour or so . It is soon by the clock, But alas, alas ! *' Half -past life'^ By my looking-glass! ETERNALS Impress of lightest things — Small hands impressed Upon my breast, A tiny head Upon my shoulder laid — These things Grave deeply their dear pattern and remain. Where fallen empires only leave a stain. CANDLES little cousins of the stars That shine in Heaven's holy tree. Shine brightly in this tree, our Christmas Tree ! And light our way to gifts withholden Only to gild them more divinely golden ! As shine the stars in Heaven's tree. Shine brightly in our Christmas Tree, little cousins of the stars ! 11 A SINGER Because he could not soar with birds Above the tallest trees, He made a little toy of words To mock their melodies. Because he could not mount that hill Abloom with stars by night, He made of rose and daffodil A lowlier heart 's-delight. TO GIVE YOU WONDER To give you once again. In this still hour. This coolness after rain, This leaf, this flower Within your hand, and your old wonderings: What is it flowers in flowers? What lives? What sings? Perhaps you know now ! Is that knowing worth Your wonder at the wonders of the earth ? THE SMALLER VOICE When March winds blustered, I believed The snowdrop 's truer prophesy ; And, lo, to-day the world's in flower for me ! 12 BUTTERCUP-BUTTERFLY I saw you, butterfly, Down by the brook that runs through the meadow, On a thick green stalk. Now you flutter where you will, On two yellow petals. THE DARK; WITH STARS The Dark was made too small to cover The beautiful blue Sky all over ; On either side of it there 's blue. The Dark is thin in places too, And lets the Day-light twinkle through. CROCUSES AND DAFFODILS The mother garden has a brood Of crocuses and daffodils ; I think she found them in the wood, And brought them homeward o 'er the hills. They shook and shivered in the wind. As little ducks and goslings do When they are only minutes old And everything is strange and new. 13 THE IMAGE-BREAKER A fool, Tossing a pebble in a pool, Cried: **Ah, stars, how Fares it, your shining, now!'* THE KEY What if the door shut-to Leave darkness there within ? How shall I hope to win The light of life anew ? Thou art the prison-door, and faith in Thee My candle and my key ! ^>-«; LIBRARY OF CONGRESS