A Field of Green
(The Beast)
 
It took me as a babe,
the horrid looking thing.
It bound me to its chain of children,
and dragged me on its way.
So swiftly did it move!
through the learning of its woods.
It pressed on me.
It made demands.
I begged for rest,
for play!  Sweet Lord!
To play!
 
A field of green,
a sunny day,
a brick building
which surrounds me.
 
The learned astronomer ends his class,
students scurry and amuse,
and then I, am touched
by strange emotions...
 
A sudden thought,
that I should judge.
I left the teachers and the students
at their play,
and then instead,
chose love.
 
Chose love?  What does that mean?
Years went by.  I grew
into myself and knew myself
Misunderstanding fled. 
I returned to former woods.
(What can I say?! I was young!)
Sandals for my feet were waiting,
a ring for my finger, a fattened calf,
the finest robe.
 

A version of this poem first appeared in Aldebaran(Roger Williams University), Fall 1989.