COUNTRY ROADI can’t forget a gaunt grey barnLike a face without an eyeThat kept recurring by field and tarnUnder a Cape Cod sky.I can’t forget a woman’s hand,Roughened and scarred by toilThat beckoned clear-eyed children tannedBy sun and wind and soil.Beauty and hardship, bent and boundUnder the selfsame yoke:Babies with bare knees plump and roundAnd stooping women folk.MARIE LOUISE HERSEY
I can’t forget a gaunt grey barnLike a face without an eyeThat kept recurring by field and tarnUnder a Cape Cod sky.I can’t forget a woman’s hand,Roughened and scarred by toilThat beckoned clear-eyed children tannedBy sun and wind and soil.Beauty and hardship, bent and boundUnder the selfsame yoke:Babies with bare knees plump and roundAnd stooping women folk.
MARIE LOUISE HERSEY