Poems (Piatt)/Volume 2/"It is not Yesterday"
"IT IS NOT YESTERDAY."[THE ANSWER OF A CHILD.]
Poor red flower of a mouth, you quiver so;—What is the matter? Tell me—if you know.Why don't you laugh out in your own one way?"Because—because it is not yesterday."
I know, I know. Oh, yesterday was sweet.It laid its one blue blossom at your feet.It let you see that gracious old man pass,Leading his cow to find the glad first grass.
To-day is dark, dark, dark. Somewhere I seeQuick lightning, and the sleet is on the treeWhere the bird, fluttering, thought about a nest.And so you cry. Well, sometimes tears are best.
I do not know but I could hide my faceDeep in my arm, if I but had your grace,And shed more tears than you can count, I say,Because—ah me, it is not yesterday!"