I did not know when I was born,
For I’d no conscious “I”,
But when I first received the morn
And took in sun from high,
And felt a separate something there
And knew that I was I,
I threw my voice into the air
And waved my hand out—“Hi!”

“Hi!” to all these good hard things,
“Hi!” to rocks and hills;
“Hi!” to birds and man’s great wings,
“Hi!” to moving thrills.

I heard the freeway’s trucks a-roar
And saw them flashing past.
Their voices made my spirit soar
And I was with them cast.
Yes, cast into a future bright
Around each curve and bend,
For I was born to sing of light
In songs that never end.

In songs and poems that never end
Was I first born around the bend.

“Hi!” to horses, bushes, streams,
“Hi!” to lizards, ants;
“Hi!” to foggy, moonlight gleams,
“Hi!” to feet that dance.

I heard the tapping heels tap on,
I saw the dancers swirl;
In leaping youth I followed dawn
And found——-a radiant girl!
Then clasped I all my future tight
Around each curve and bend,
For I was born to sing of light
In songs that never end.

In songs and poems that never end
Was I first born around the bend.

“Hi!” to shoes and clothing stores,
“Hi!” to symphonies;
“Hi!” to solid shutting dors,
“Hi!” to mysteries.

I felt the pen within my hands,
I saw the notebook, lines;
Flowed on the ink at my command—-
That thought-wave of my mind.
Each letter formed a future bright
With every curve and bend,
For I was born to sing of light
In songs that never end.

In songs and poems that never end
Was I first born around the bend.