Carl Sandburg (1878–1967). Cornhuskers. 1918.

61. Valley Song

YOUR eyes and the valley are memories.

Your eyes fire and the valley a bowl.

It was here a moonrise crept over the timberline.

It was here we turned the coffee cups upside down.

And your eyes and the moon swept the valley.

I will see you again to-morrow.

I will see you again in a million years.

I will never know your dark eyes again.

These are three ghosts I keep.

These are three sumach-red dogs I run with.

All of it wraps and knots to a riddle:

I have the moon, the timberline, and you.

All three are gone—and I keep all three.