SWAYING TREE TOPS 



north a band of turquoise sky 

 reached from the sunrise point to the 

 western woods. Out against it stood 

 a windwheel, undecided which way 

 to point the breeze. The zenith was 

 massed with dark cloud which broke 

 into red-edged fragments toward the 

 eastern sky line. 



Though three thousand sleeping 

 folk lay in cottages upon the shores, 

 I was as much alone in the silence of 

 the dawning day as though in mid- 

 ocean. The isolations of silence, 

 how seldom do we seek and value 

 them! Just before the activity of 

 the day we may detach ourselves 

 from the claims of folks and things, 

 and learn to know the self which 

 hides within our formal manner and 

 conforming habit. 'Tis then that 



[141] 



