Reckless of my mortality, Strengthen me to behold a face, To know the spirit of a beloved one Yet to endure, yet to dare! - Edgar Lee Masters

I sat under my cedar tree.
My mate, the mother of them, was taken-
I sat under my cedar tree,
Till ninety years were tolled.
O maternal Earth, which rocks the fallen leaf to sleep!

In youth my wings were strong and tireless,
But I did not know the mountains.
In age I knew the mountains
But my weary wings could nto follow my vision-
Genius is wisdom and youth.

And I never started to plow in my life
That some one did not stop in the road
And take me away to a dance or picnic.
I ended up with forty acres;
I ended up with a broken fiddle — And a broken laugh, and a thousand memories,
And not a single regret.