Poems (Cromwell)/Choice

by Gladys Cromwell

CHOICE

Imperious Time, I must prefer
Thy just necessity:
Resign the silent, earlier
Beliefs grown dear to me.

The stillness left alternatives
To youth, a freedom wide
And dim as dreaming, but man lives,
And must one day decide.

There is a doom the years compel:
I must approach the goal
Decreed, where it behooves me dwell:
I must declare my soul;

Must speak and choose what stars pertain
To me; needs must I rest
In their most intimate beams, remain
Committed and confessed.

I claim a tent of stars in place
Of heaven's confusing dome:
A tent of stars in a dark space—
The sky must be my home.

I must adopt a finer scope,
A tent of stars in space—
Affiliated flames, a hope
Auroral creeds embrace.