The Sky / Elizabeth Madox Roberts

The Sky

I saw a shadow on the ground
And heard a bluejay going by;
A shadow went across the ground,
And I looked up and saw the sky.

It hung up on the poplar tree,
But while I looked it did not stay;
It gave a tiny sort of jerk
And moved a little bit away.

And farther on and farther on
It moved and never seemed to stop.
I think it must be tied with chains
And something pulls it from the top.

---
Elizabeth Madox Roberts (1881-1941)
from Under the Tree, 1922

[Poem is in the public domain in Canada, the United States, and the European Union]

Elizabeth Madox Roberts biography