IF the flower can draw blue from the sky Why not I? If the leaf can draw green from the sun Why not I? All the colors of heaven are fain to be won: Come now to the capture -- the chase is begun! If the flower can draw gold from the heart of the sun Why not I? All things we would gain must be won by pursuit: Loose now for the capture the hounds of your soul! The gray sap is running away from the root And the tree's highest leaf is its ultimate goal. There's a word for the dumb, There's a hue for the blind, And he, who despairs not, shall find. The gardens of heaven are lonely for men -- The stars almost plead for a glance from your eyes. And though this that passes comes never again Yet no one goes weeping when loveliness dies. There are wings in the air Which the lowly may wear; There are harps in the wind everywhere The girth of the sky Is yours for the asking, to wear on your brow. The strength of the sun Is a gift which is held as a prize to be won: Let us seek for it now, You and I! Let us mine the day through In those quarries of blue, For the miners who come to the task are too few. If the flower can draw blue from the sky Why not I? If the leaf can draw green from the sun Why not I? All the colors of heaven are fain to be won: Come now to the capture -- the chase is begun! If the flower can draw gold from the heart of the sun Why not I? | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...AMOUR by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON THE TEMPTRESS by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON ON THE PROPOSAL TO ERECT A MONUMENT IN ENGLAND TO LORD BYRON by EMMA LAZARUS SENRYU: BLIND DATE by TIMOTHY LIU SONNET: 50 by GEORGE SANTAYANA |