A Child’s Rhymes from Other Times

Quatrains from a boy’s notebook

Nightchild 1

I am no child to woo the night. I am not darkness, nor am I light.

Give me your hand, so large, so fine. Your hand is cold — colder than mine.

Nightchild 2

Stop me if I wander too close to the sea. Hold me if I climb too high in a tree.

Kiss me if you want to, but I will be free. You made me your image but I still will be me.

Nightchild 3

But I was first! the child cried out; the first to whisper, the last to shout.

The first to listen, the last to embrace. Deep in darkness, I’ve hidden my face.