On The Porch

As I lie roofed in, screened in,

From the pattering rain,

The summer rain—As I

Snug and dry,      And hear the birds complain:

Oh, billow on billow,

Oh, roar on roar,

Over me

The seas of war.        Over me—down—down—Lunges and

The huge gun with its one blind eye,

The armored train,

And, swooping out of the sky,      The aeroplane.

Down—down—The army proudly

Under gay flags,

The glorious dead heaped up like rags,        A church with bronze bells ringing,

A city all towers,

Gardens of lovers and flowers,

The round world

In the light of the sun:      All broken, undone,

All

Black surges of thunder … Oh, billow on

Oh, roar on roar,        Over me

The seas of war … As I lie roofed in, screened in,

From the pattering rain,

The summer rain—        As I

Snug and dry,

And hear the birds complain.