PRISON REVEILLE

Out through the iron doorway, bolted strong,

I see the night guard's shadow on the wall.

The bugle sounds its thin, white silver call,

Awake! awake! O world-forgotten throng!

And then the sudden clanging of the gong,

And... silence... aching silence... over all;

While through the windows, steel-barred, stern and tall,

Pale daylight greets us like a plaintive song.

Somewhere the dawn breaks laughing o'er the sea

To splash with gold the cities’ domes and towers,

And countless men seek visions wide and free,

In that alluring world that is not ours;

But no one there could prize as much as we

The open road, the smell of grass and flowers.