Louise Mallinkrodt Kueffner

ONCE I was a crag crowning the peak’s sharp crest,

My red flanks bared to the golden sun,

My sharp-serried comb breaking the loose-textured low-fleeting clouds;

And once I was the sudden swift-moving shadow upon the crag,

Fallen from a white high-sailing cloud.

Once I was the cone-heavy tree upon the crag,

Tossing long needles in the wind,

Breathing sweet fragrance to the air;

And once I was the glistening spider’s thread spun deftly from needle to needle.

These I was once—

Unthinking,

Untroubled by whence or whither or why;

Knowing not

Of yesterday, tomorrow, today,

Of loneliness, desire, or love, or joy:

Thus I was once.

And once I was the blue, blue sky above,

And made men glad.