J. Alpheus Butler, "A Traveller" (1928)
By J. Alpheus Butler
THE folks are awaiting and I must go
The doors behind are locked; the driver waits.
Anticipation begins and murmurs low
Come swelling up to me from behind the gates.
The horses are poised as if to make a plunge
The groom stands ready who cared for them.
All hearts are tuned for journeying: the joyous lunge
Into the twinkling town where dwells Meristem
.
We pass into the distance and fade away
Travellers in Time, who despite our cares and woes
Promise to return some later, fairer day
When fewer vexations cross our path; who knows’
Our ways are strewn with many an unknown turn
And only he who goes along may learn.
Published in Opportunity, September 1928