The Dancing Child

Like a leaf in the wind,

Blowing here, blowing there;

Darting up, dropping down,

in the cool autumn air.

Arms outflung, poised on toe,

Like a flash on the sward;

Glancing back as she flies

Arrow-like from the cord.

Arms on high, whirling round,

As from sheer joy of heart,

Now she laughs and is gone.

Is it life? Is it art?

Like a leaf in the wind,

Blowing here, blowing there;

She's a thistle-down puff

Floating free in the air.

--Edith Granger Hawkes

Sonoma County Branch Bulletin, League of American Pen Women, December 1928.

"Class of 1891: Granger, Edith" - Classes of 1891-1900 records, Smith College Archives, CA-MS-01022, Smith College Special Collections, Northampton, Massachusetts.