2020-08-11 - Who But A Child by Eleanor Alletta Chaffee ======================================================= Child eyes Who but a child would wander into the night Against the sensible advice of those much older, Whose silent shadows cut the moon's thin light And only maples lean to touch the shoulder? What do they hope to find, what fever stirs Their blood and guides their feet to walk alone? They will return, the sweater stuck with burrs And in the hand a useless, shapeless stone, But something in their face, secret, withdrawn Will go with them upstairs, and to their sleep. They are as furtive now as a young wild fawn: Their eyes are darker now, and large and deep. Who but a child can find such subtle magic In the world the elders find so grave, so tragic? tags: poem Tags ==== poem