As A Fleeting Bird

Sometimes a thought or rarest sense

Flits o’er as does a fleeting summer bird;

And feign would I stretch out my hand

To save it in all its brilliancy.

E’en cage it, so to speak, to keep

And love throught the coming days.

But midst the commotion of a busy life

It flutters, slips then soars away,

     And is forever lost.

Saybrook Point, Apr. 22.

              1892