Give me a little child
To draw this dreary want out of my breast,
I cried to God.
“Give, for my days beat wild
With loneliness that will not rest
But under the still sod!”
It came–with groping lips
And little fingers stealing aimlessly
About my heart.
I was like one who slips
A-sudden into Ecstasy
And thinks ne’er to depart.
“Soon he will smile,” I said,
“And babble baby love into my ears–
How it will thrill!”
I waited–Oh, the dread,
The clutching agony, the fears!–
He was so strange and still.
Did I curse God and rave
When they came shrinkingly to tell me ’twas
A witless child?
No … I … I only gave
One cry … just one … I think … because …
You know … he never smiled.
(Cale Young Rice)
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Based on Topics: God Poems, Sadness Poems, Joy & Excitement Poems, Smiling Poems, Fear PoemsBased on Keywords: shrinkingly, a-sudden