Poem by Josephine Preston Peabody

Windows

Once, and in the daytime too, I made myself afraid,
Playing Eyelids-Up-and-Down, with the window-shade;
Till the Houses seemed to watch People going by;
And they kept me looking, too,--wondering where and why.

If I were that Other Boy,--if I were those Men,
Going by with things to sell,--who would I be, then?

Windows with their eyebrows high; windows like a frown,
Thinking it all over, so, with the curtains down;
Tall ones that are somehow sad, narrow ones that blink,--
All the Windows you can see make you think, and think.

If I were that Old Man, and I looked up at me
Watching from the window here, Oh, then how would it be?

Sometimes they are golden, with shining in their eyes.--
Every time the sun sets, it happens like surprise,--
And so bright, I almost forget the dream I made;
But I keep it, for the days I want to make myself afraid.

If I were that Boy who limps,--now it's dark and snowing,
And if I were going home,--Oh, where would I be going?

1. The Sorrows
2. Church-Time
3. Spinning in April
4. The Beggar-Man
5. Little Side-Streets

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