Into the Woods

Oh where have you been all day
That you have been so long away?
Oh, I have been a woodland child,
And walked alone in places wild.
Bright eyes peered at me everywhere,
And voices filled the evening air;
All sounds of furred and feathered things,
The footfall soft, the whir of wings.
Oh, I have seen grey squirrels play
At hide-and-seek the live-long day;
And baby rabbits full of fun
Poked out their noses in the sun,
And, unafraid, played there with me
In that still place of greenery.
A thousand secrets I have heard
From every lovely feathered bird;
The little red and yellow leaves
Danced round me in the autumn breeze,
In merry frolic to and fro,
As if they would not let me go.
How can I stay in this full town,
When those far woods are green and brown?

Dorothy Baker