Dooryards Poems | Examples

Olive Rabedew - 1895-1911

Poem 4

Olive Rabedew

1895-1911

Trudy and I both knew

Both knew and experienced

The voracious vertigo of secret love.

Homework was done together

In the soft lamplight 

Of crisp autumn nights.

Plaid ginghams were sewn together

In the wilting afternoon sunlight

Of long forgotten summer days.

Hand-held strolls were surreptitiously taken 

In the forbidden fields, and

In the concealed canyons.

Pursed caresses were exchanged

In the innocent dooryards, and

In the curious kitchens 

Behind closed oaken doors.

But our Lord decreed in 1911

That our love would desist.

That our intense times together

Would terminate for eternity.

Trudy dearest, let it be known now:

True love is a blossoming tree

Which yields many kinds of fruit.

Our harvest together then,

Is our legacy, Our last 

And final stand for freedom.