Song for July - Gladys Taber

"Song for July"


Many a man has lived on dreams alone,
Nourished his heart on what he never had,
Many a woman makes her bread from stone,
And dreaming brims the cup of many a lad.


Mariners steer tall ships against the moon
With never a port in sight, but hope of one,
And oftentime the passionate bud of June
Withers untimely in too hot a sun.


This we know well, and yet we raise our eyes
On summer evenings when all wings are still
And there again behold familiar skies,
Silvered with stars above the darkest hill.


We see the stars, and easily may mark
How swift their glow diminishes the dark.


~ Gladys Taber, 'The Book of Stillmeadow'