Fox Footprints/The South Seas Islands
The South Seas Islands
Out from the sea the islands emerge
Like sharp buds with petals close-folded.
The coral reefs lie about them, rimming lily pads of round still water,
And the sun shines, and the trade winds blow, and the continents lie out of memory beyond the horizon.
The trees are thick and heavy with fruit and flowers,
The blue seas are filled with fish and monsters like nightmares,
From high up in the hills comes the cool sound of falling water,
And the people are of a race grown tall and shapely
With the taste of human blood, offered in the darkness of the gods.
Like sharp buds with petals close-folded.
The coral reefs lie about them, rimming lily pads of round still water,
And the sun shines, and the trade winds blow, and the continents lie out of memory beyond the horizon.
The trees are thick and heavy with fruit and flowers,
The blue seas are filled with fish and monsters like nightmares,
From high up in the hills comes the cool sound of falling water,
And the people are of a race grown tall and shapely
With the taste of human blood, offered in the darkness of the gods.