Poems (Odom)/My Pictures
For works with similar titles, see My Pictures.
MY PICTURES.
[Inscribed to my brother and sister, Mr. and Mrs. H. S. Hunt, of San Francisco, Cal.]
While my heart is softly singing To itself a low-toned song,And the white waves of remembrance Surge within it deep and strong;Tossing upward to the surface Pearly pleasures I have lost,I can hear the gentle murmur Of the waters I have crossed.
Of the sunny stream of childhood That has flown so far away;Rippling, sparkling in the sunlight Of a pure and cloudless day,Gliding through the shifting shadows, Gleaming beautiful and bright—Speeding onward through the meadows Like a living thing of light.
Ah! so strong is the remembrance That I almost seem to be,Once again among the children Gathered at my Mother's knee;And how lovingly she folded Each bright head upon her breast,But we always knew that Mother Loved her only boy the best.
Our brave, honest-hearted brother, How his merry boyish faceRises up to-day before me, In its old accustomed place.But there came a day of parting, Full of sorrow and of pain,When he knelt before our Mother As he never may again.
And she clasped him to her bosom With a low, heart-broken cry,Feeling quite the bitter anguish Of his death in that "good-bye."Time, with all its many changes, And its years, cannot destroyThe sad picture of our Mother Parting from her only boy.
I can see our white-haired Father Lay his hands upon his head;I can almost hear the falter Of the last few words he said.But a murmur, low and broken, Bidding God-speed to his son—The sire had almost finished When the boy had just begun.
How the years have glided onward Like the ocean, wave on wave:Summer roses long have blossomed Sweetly over Father's grave,And across the rolling prairie, From beside the sunset sea,Came to-day two pictured faces, Full of happy light to me.
One so handsome, frank, and noble, Full of manhood's honest pride;One so fair and sweet and girlish— Like my brother and his bride.In the manly face before me, Wearing all its bridal joy;I can trace the perfect likeness Of the happy-hearted boy.
Something older, somewhat graver— 'Tis the same, yet not the same—Like the glowing of a fire That has lost its flushing flame.Ah! these youthful, pictured faces Bring a gladness to my life,As my heart in fond affection Folds my brother and his wife.
Galveston, Texas, June 11, 1880.