Poetry, VOLUME 2

Poem: Liberty Hyde Bailey “Brotherhood” [Vol. 2, #27]

BROTHERHOOD
Liberty Hyde Bailey

In remembrance of
Interdependence Day
July 4, 2009
.

 

Weather and wind and waning moon
Plain and hilltop under the sky
Ev’ning, morning and blazing noon,
Brother of’ all the world am I.
The pine-tree, linden and the maize
The insect, squirrel and the kine
All-natively they live their days—
As they live theirs, so I live mine.
I know not where, I know not what:—
Believing none and doubting none
Whatso befalls it counteth not,—
Nature and time and I are one.

The wild bird fashions its nest of straw,—
The bird abides by its time and law;
The forest stands by the night and day,
The flower blooms and it fades away;
The earth grows green and the earth grows brown,
Life rises up and then death comes down;
The life and soul of the things that be
It flows on and on unceasingly.

The wind blows out to the ageless sky,
And the placeless clouds go floating by;
The rain descends and the rivers flow,
The summers come and the winters go;
The dusk returns and the morning light,
And call of day and the voice of night;
The ages run to a silent sea,
Flowing and flowing eternally.

I am the bird in its nest of straw
And I abide by my time and law,
I am the tree standing night and day,
And I am the plant that fades away;
And men grow green and the men grow brown,
And life rises up and death drops down;
And men, and life, and the things that be
They flow on and on unceasingly.

I am the wind that blows to the sky,
And ageless cloud that goes floating by;
I am the rain and the river flow,
I am the seasons that come and go;
I am the dusk and the morning light,
The call of day and the voice of night;
And I pass out to the silent sea,
Flowing and flowing eternally.

C. Christopher Smith is the founding editor of The Englewood Review of Books. He is also author of a number of books, including most recently How the Body of Christ Talks: Recovering the Practice of Conversation in the Church (Brazos Press, 2019). Connect with him online at: C-Christopher-Smith.com

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