From the Heart: Three American Women - Three from Sara

There will come soft rains and the smell of the ground,
And swallows circling with their shimmering sound;

And frogs in the pools singing at night,
And wild plum trees in tremulous white;

Robins will wear their feathery fire
Whistling their whims on a low fence wire;

And not one will know of the war, not one 
Will care at last when it is done.

Not one would mind, neither bird nor tree 
If mankind perished utterly;

And Spring herself, when she awoke at dawn,
Would scarcely know that we were gone.

I came to the crowded Inn of Earth,
And called for a cup of wine,
But the Host went by with averted eye
From a thirst as keen as mine.
Then I sat down with weariness
And asked a bit of bread,
But the Host went by with averted eye
And never a word he said.
While always from the outer night 
The waiting souls came in 
With stifled cries of sharp surprise
At all the light and din.
"Then give me a bed to sleep", I said,
"For midnight comes apace"
But the Host went by with averted eye
And I never saw his face.
"Since there is neither food nor rest,
I go where I fared before"
But the Host went by with averted eye
And barred the outer door.

I stood beside a hill
Smooth with new-laid snow,
A single star looked out
From the cold evening glow.
There was no other creature 
That saw what I could see
I stood and watched the evening star
As long as it watched me.