Poems (Dorr)/The Blind Bird's Nest

by Julia Caroline Dorr

THE BLIND BIRD'S NEST  "The nest of the blind bird is built by God."—Turkish Proverb.

Thou who dost build the blind bird's nest,
     Am I not blind?
Each bird that flyeth east or west
     The track can find.

Each bird that flies from north to south
     Knows the far way;
From mountain's crest to river's mouth
     It does not stray.

Not one in all the lengthening land,
     In all the sky,
Or by the ocean's silver strand,
     Is blind as I!

And dost Thou build the blind bird's nest?
     Build Thou for me
Some shelter where my soul may rest
     Secure in Thee.

Close clinging to the bending bough,
     Bind it so fast
It shall not loose if high or low
     Blows the loud blast.

If fierce storms break, and the wild rain
     Comes pelting in,
Cover the shrinking nest, restrain
     The furious din.

At sultry noontide, when the air
     Trembles with heat,
Draw close the leafy covert where
     Cool shadows meet.

And when night falleth, dark and chill,
     Let one fair star,
Love's star all luminous and still,
     Shine from afar,

Thou who dost build the blind bird's nest
     Build Thou for me;
So shall my being find its rest
     Forevermore in Thee.