Pearl Fog
July 5, 2023Maybe
July 5, 2023Murmurings in a Field Hospital
[They picked him up in the grass where he had lain two
days in the rain with a piece of shrapnel in his lungs.]
Come to me only with playthings now. . .
A picture of a singing woman with blue eyes
Standing at a fence of hollyhocks, poppies and sunflowers. . .
Or an old man I remember sitting with children telling stories
Of days that never happened anywhere in the world. . .
No more iron cold and real to handle,
Shaped for a drive straight ahead.
Bring me only beautiful useless things.
Only old home things touched at sunset in the quiet. . .
And at the window one day in summer
Yellow of the new crock of butter
Stood against the red of new climbing roses. . .
And the world was all playthings.
Carl Sandburg
Carl Sandburg (1878-1967) was an American poet and writer known for his works on American culture and history. He wrote several volumes of poetry, including "Chicago Poems" and "The People, Yes," and also authored the landmark biography of Abraham Lincoln, "Abraham Lincoln: The Prairie Years."