141

date: 1920-04-05

names-on-the-page: Col. & Mrs. Willing; Mr. & Mrs. Yost; Mrs. Elias Michael; Mrs. Chase; Mr. & Mrs. Canby Robinson; Mrs. Fitzroy & Maizie; Mrs. Boise; Miss M. Boise

transcription: April 5, 1920

Col. & Mrs. Willing,
Mr. & Mrs. Yost,
Mrs. Elias Michael,
Mrs. Chase,
Mr. & Mrs. Canby Robinson,
Mrs. Fitzroy & Maizie,
Mrs. Boise,
Miss M. Boise,
The family.

The little dining room could hardly hold the crowd. After they had
all arrived and the usual general conversation, Patience gave this
poem which seemed to refer to someone, yet Patience did not indicate
which of the company it would be.

-I Know-

I need no thing, beloved,
To make announcement unto me of thee.
What though the stretching sands leading
Unto the West and spreading Eastward,
Silvery marked, are scriptless?
What though in the padding of the camel
There is no sound save the creaking
Of the trappings and the little knockings
Of the sand as it strikes the metal?
What though my turbanned row is fevered
And my tongue silent and I am bitten
Of loneliness which gnaws at my heart
Like a wolf? Listening am I.

I need no announcement.
What though the caravan moves on,
Bowed, silent? What though night
Is but a pit whereto we ride?
And morrow but a glamouring light
Which fascinates me, bidding me
To follow? And all of these are silent,
And I have forgot that my lips
Will move or that I might speak
Intimately, my words falling
Upon the silence as pebbles plunged
Unto a pool.

I have forgotten this
For I am satisfied. This silence
Is but thee. And I need no announcement
Of thee. In the sweep of the winds
Across the sand I hear the trailing
Of thy robe. In the pad of the camel
Upon the path I hear thy footfall.

Con'd

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