To Tomorrow

digital image © the author

Have you seen where the bird of Tomorrow sings
On a branch of the tree Today —
With his rainbow plumage, his golden wings,
Like the sand where the sunset lay?
With his crest the purple that midnight brings,
All his blue and green — the peacock things
Of the summer at sun’s midday?

I have seen the tree growing tall and gray
And my heart is cold, afraid;
On its sides my feet will slip and stray,
And its trunk is yet wrapped in shade
From the mists that lie round its roots alway,
Where Night keeps the sorrows of Yesterday —
All the griefs and the fears unpaid.

How long have I struggled to climb, half-bold,
Through Yesterday’s deep dismay?
I can glimpse Tomorrow, its wings of gold,
Where the sunrise sets its ray;
I will seize the feathers from days of old
(When Today was Tomorrow they fell on the mould);
On the wings of Tomorrow through years untold
I will fly through the tree of Today.