May Wind / Sara Teasdale

May Wind

I said, "I have shut my heart
   As one shuts an open door,
That Love may starve within
   And trouble me no more."

But over the roofs there came
   The wet new wind of May,
And a tune blew up from the curb
   Where the street-pianos play.

My room was white as the sun
   And Love cried out to me,
"I am strong, I will break your heart
   Unless you set me free."

~~
Sara Teasdale (1889-1933)
from Love Songs, 1917

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

Sara Teasdale biography