Tell Me

Tell me, dear beauty of the dusk,

When purple ribbons bind the hill,

Do dreams your secret wish fulfill,

Do prayers, like kernels from the husk

Come from your lips? Tell me if when

The mountains loom at night, giant shades

Of softer shadow, swift like blades

Of grass seeds come to flower. Then

Tell me if the night winds bend

Them towards me, if the Shenandoah

As it ripples past your shore,

Catches the soul of what you send.