Working Knowledge
A human being needs some pride in knowing Some thing that he himself can verify, If it’s no more than the proper time for hoeing And planting beans, or how to still the cry Of newborn things; he needs decisive acts That keep his knowledge clear-cut and unblurred, To hold him steady in the midst […]
The One-Talent Man
A trusting eager child, he was derided, Made shrinkingly aware of lack of worth When one he loved rejected work he prided Himself on, and he hid it in the earth. So later, entrusted with one precious thing, He his it lest he lost it, for he fearer. He bears his punishment; and time will […]
Easter Absolution
The earth has long done penance In ashen garb of woe For the great sin the sons of men Committed long ago. But now the winter’s sorrow wins Peace for the ancient pain, And spring’s forgiving grass returns, And spring’s absolving rain. –Saturday Evening Post, 1947 (written in 1942) –republished in Halfway Up the Sky