“I only know that summer sang in me

a little while, that in me sings no more”

I only know that sunlight sang softer

a little while, and darkness became more comfortable

I gave you spring,

I gave you fragrant lilacs blooming

A birds song at dawn

a river, unthawed from the harshest winter it’s ever known

I was Persephone

returned to spur growth in your soil

I feel a little like you saw

a seed and thought it would not sprout.

“I only know that summer sang in me,

a little while, and in me sings no more”

I only know I’ve traveled far to feel her golden sunshine,

and yet today I turned my back.

Excerpt from “What Lips My Lips Have Kissed” by Edna St. Vincent Millay, 1923