Ethel Romig Fuller: short poems

My Sons

I have two
Who have borne one, 
A little boy,
A tall son.

A little boy
Who laughed and played,
A lad who meets life
Unafraid.

A little boy,
And one that grew
Higher than I
— They both are you.

What the King Has

What the king has
So have I:
Rose-gold of dawn,
Bejewelled sky,
A wealth of days
Slipping by.

What the king has
So have I:
Hopes deferred,
Ambitions high,
Hungerings
To satisfy.

What the king has
So have I:
A crown of love
Naught can buy;
Once to live,
Once to die.

The Difference

From life’s bonfire
With bare hands,
Impetuous youth
Snatches brands.

To stir the embers
Of old loves,
Age, grown cautious,
Puts on gloves.

Possession

Help yourself to gold of noon,
To curve of petal and young moon.
None will claim the bits you prize
For no one sees them with your eyes.

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