Page:The Poet in the Desert.djvu/29

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" 'Ye have condemned and killed the just.'

"If a brother or sister be naked and destitute of daily food,

"And one of ye say unto them :

" 'Depart in peace ; be warmed and filled,'

"Notwithstanding ye give them not those things

"Which are needful to the body,

"What doth it profit?"

TRUTH: Though a Christ died daily, they would not understand

him. They are slaves unto material things ; Worshippers of the things that were. Always eager to crucify the Masters of the Soul.

POET: Beloved Nature, lay on your cool and benedictive hands ; Wrap me in your infinity, Bathe me in your eternal pools. Wash me clean of the turmoil, And draw into your bosom all my fever. Give into my hand the stars rising above this world. And from their invisible fountains shed on me the dews of

Peace. Breathe Beauty as a cloud, surpassing all. You have made nothing sacred; And in your everlasting temples, none need kneel.

TRUTH: Man has declared a sanctity in garments, But not in the flesh of babes.

The Patriot must bare his head before a holy rag. But in its fluttering shadow his striving soul Is stricken down with clubs of Authority.

POET: Holier to me than any flag, the tatters of her Who should be a full-bosomed mother. More eloquent to me than banners,

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