Anne Spencer, "Rime For the Christmas Baby" (1927)
(At 48 Webster Place, Orange)
By Anne Spencer
Dear Bess,
He'll have rings and linen things,
And others made of silk;
There'll be toys like other boys’
And cream upon his milk;
True, some sort of merit in a mart
Where goods are sold for money,
But packed with comfort is the heart
That shares with you what's funny;
So please kiss him when he’s very bad
And laugh with him in gladness,—
Life is too long a way to go,
And age will bring him sadness . . .
Pray you for unceasing springs,
Swelling deep in pard’n,
That into twin lives may grow
Time’s unfading garden.
Published in Opportunity, December 1927