Poems (Odom)/Life's Changes

For works with similar titles, see Life's Changes.

ACROSS THE WAY.

THE HOME OF MRS. G. H. MENSING, GALVESTON.

I sit in swift-falling shadows
That mantle the close of the day,
And look at the bright-tinted picture
Of happiness over the way.

There, just near the open window,
Through foldings of filmy lace,
Shines forth on the outer darkness
A fair woman's radiant face.

Three bright little children are clinging
And climbing about on her knee;
While ripples of childish laughter
Come eddying over to me.

Now Charlie is teasing a kitten
That hid just under his chair;
And Gussie is cunningly stealing
The comb from her shining hair.

While dear little yellow-haired Alice,
The youngest and pet of them all,
Is calling her two little brothers
To come out and play in the hall.

The warm lights dropping about them
Fall bright on the carpeted floor;
The sunset is flinging a pathway
Of quivering gold through the door.

The soft summer breezes are stirring
The oak leaves over the gate,
Like the beating of passionate pulses
When loving hearts listen and wait.

The latch of the gateway is turning,
A footstep is heard on the stair,
A shadow falls into the door-way;
The little ones welcome him there.

And she who is queen of his kingdom,
The sweet mother-bird of his nest,
Just raises her eyes for an instant,
To hide them again on his breast.

As lights from the parlor are gleaming,
The shade at the window is drawn;
My picture is lost, and my hour
Of roseate twilight is gone.