Sialia Sialis

   I

  The sun is somewhere in a cloudy sky
  And I can’t tell the hour, nor east from west,
  But though the dusk my spirit would deny
 
  My body’s telling me it’s time to rest,
  And what has carried me these miles beyond
  My starting point, that dawn so far away
 
  The fundamental memories are gone,
  Would somewhere in the middle of the day
  Turn to its history of winding roads
 
  And heaving hills and shifting winds and rain.
  But if what breathes can bear the pains and loads
  What lives will take each step as gift and gain
 
  And claim the highways leveled and unbending,
  And dream the better day of its unending.


   II

  Somewhere, past the fog, up in the trees,
  A bluebird sings its timeless song to me
  And to the world of possibilities
 
  Of heaven unsophisticatedly
  Descending on a sunless day, a song
  So sweet and sad and simple that the air
 
  At once intoxicates and makes me strong,
  Uplifts me and abandons me.  Somewhere,
  I must believe, my destiny awaits,
 
  And at the final turn, this history
  Will end and leave its luggage at the gates:
  This road, this day, this bird that sings to me,
 
  And all these weary words will cease to be
  And I will fly into eternity.