Heart Songs

<h2><SPAN name="SOME_JOYS_WE_MAY_NOT_KEEP" id="SOME_JOYS_WE_MAY_NOT_KEEP"></SPAN>Some Joys We May Not Keep</h2> <div class="poetry"> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> <span class="ig">“Something is lost to me,” she said, “that nevermore<br/></span> <span class="i2">Will be my very own,<br/></span> <span class="i0">Something has swiftly slipped through my heart’s door,<br/></span> <span class="i2">And to the winds has flown.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="ig">“Loss was the kindest thing that fate could send&mdash;<br/></span> <span class="i2">Some joys we may not keep&mdash;<br/></span> <span class="i0">And yet, because this is the very end,<br/></span> <span class="i2">I needs,” she said, “must weep.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="ig">“Feeling my heart so empty and so chill&mdash;<br/></span> <span class="i2">There is no glow to-night,<br/></span> <span class="i0">No wakening of the old-time tender thrill,<br/></span> <span class="i2">No pulsing of delight.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="ig">“When death hides from our eyes a much loved face,<br/></span> <span class="i2">We let our tears fall fast,<br/></span> <span class="i0">And then we take each sign, each ling’ring trace,<br/></span> <span class="i2">And seal it up&mdash;so&mdash;‘Past.’<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="page_054" id="page_054"></SPAN>{54}</span><br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="ig">“And I must put the memories away,<br/></span> <span class="i2">The toys love left behind,<br/></span> <span class="i0">The sweets we shared upon a summer day;<br/></span> <span class="i2">The kiss, the faith so blind.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="ig">“I was so rich, so proud, awhile ago,<br/></span> <span class="i2">And now, I am so poor,<br/></span> <span class="i0">O, empty heart, there’s nothing now to do<br/></span> <span class="i2">But just to close the door!”<br/></span></div> </div></div> <p class="c"><ANTIMG src="images/deco.png" width-obs="25" alt="[Decorative image unavailable.]" /></p> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="page_055" id="page_055"></SPAN>{55}</span></p> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />