Mind Gardens
DAVID VAN CORTLANDT CROSBY
Once upon a time there was a garden on a high hill
Green and blossomin' round against the sea
And there the sun came and the rain pourin' down
Garden grew and flourished and splattered bits of color on the ground
And it took shape and symmetry and all of life around
But there came winds driven and howling
There came snow and I feared for the garden
So I built a wall and I built another and roofed it over thick and strong
And kept it from the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune
The killing cold could not get in
But when the sun came and the gentle rain of spring
They could not reach the garden behind those walls
It would have died, safely, securely, died
But as I longed and as I learned I tore the walls all down
The garden still lives