Daydreaming child on the tenement roof
Who sat in the sullied sun and thought of joy,
The thin, the blue-veined hands in life’s reproof,
Lay on the shabby lap, two wax, two useless flowers,
Lay patiently resigned to heavy-dropping hours
Or future vast beyond all hope and reason,
Desperate dreaming brought refreshing showers,
Fish from remote seas, fruit out of season,
Visions of winter roses, summer snows
Till the starved life grows ill with discontent–
Now the thin cheeks’ unnatural pallor glows,
The feverish spirit flares, is quickly spent.
And the hard truth no illusion can refine–
Touched the unlearned eyes and sharpened them,
As the blue flowers on the celestial stem
Or faded clothing drying on a line
Unite in equal terror. Inner vision, outward gleam
Blur in cold heat upon her helpless hands,
Through soot-grey air she feels the future stream
On threatening streets, or lonely, hostile lands.
(Marya Zaturenska)
More Poetry from Marya Zaturenska:
Marya Zaturenska Poems based on Topics: Joy & Excitement, Life, Flowers, Imagination & Visualization, Reasoning, Hostility, Winter, Daydreaming, Summer, Future- The White Dress (Marya Zaturenska Poems)
- Lightning For Atmosphere (Marya Zaturenska Poems)
- The Castaways (Marya Zaturenska Poems)
- Epitaph for a Careless Beauty (Marya Zaturenska Poems)
- Woman at the Piano (Marya Zaturenska Poems)
- Invocation (1920) (Marya Zaturenska Poems)
Readers Who Like This Poem Also Like:
Based on Topics: Life Poems, Joy & Excitement Poems, Flowers Poems, Summer Poems, Winter Poems, Future Poems, Imagination & Visualization Poems, Reasoning Poems, Hostility Poems, Daydreaming PoemsBased on Keywords: blue-veined