Echoes

Since in that breathless feverish past that seems
No whit of this gray morsel I've become
You were the key that wound emotions to
The pitch I must sustain, no matter if
I would or no, the hidden shameful cause
Of each decision that I ever made^____
Your absence, unexplained, could make my day
A blot of fear, your minute's tardiness
Could make me hate my food and drink,^___ you were
For years the only hot and cold that made
The mercury fall and rise^___and since for years
I've seemingly forgotten all:

Then why
Does now a sudden step upon the porch ^___A reminiscent voice across the street, Make me clutch my breath for fear you've come From out the grave to rob me of this peace Ingrown, that makes of me a tame Gray woman whom they pity thinking she Has never lived?

^__Margaret E. Haughawout.

Sheep's Clothing
Margaret E. Haughawout
Page 50
(Pittsburg, Kansas: __. 1929)