Mint and Willow by Ruth Cleaves Hazelton

MIINT AND WILLOW

SHALL I tell you where I found it?

In a shop where souvenirs were

Piled in myriad heaps and clusters

Shell, and bark; and ancient carvings,

Wood, and wampum; bone and leather.

There it hung upon the high wall

Worked in grass, and beads of silver,

Worked with loving care, and fashioned

Scene a dryad might have longed for,

Scene a poet must have dreamed of,

Scene two lovers saw, and lingered.

Surely none more fair than this one,

Sky as rose as dawn could offer

Tree so tall that stars might shelter

In its topmost branches resting,

Brook so clear it was a mirror

For a fawn to see its likeness,

Pebbles there of pearly whiteness—

Worked in grass of scented sweetness,

Worked on leather soft as satin,

Worked with beads of shining silver,

Painting called the Mint and Willow!

Painting, by an Indian maiden

One who dreamed a matchless vision,

One who dwelt with metal magic;

Skilled in art, and loving nature,

Working beauty into leather;

Painting gently, mint and willow!

 Mint and Willow by Ruth Cleaves Hazelton; Ryerson Poetry Chapbook Series published by Ronald P. Frye and Co, Book Publishers, Toronto Canada. Poems by Twentieth Century Canadian poets, Cover art by Amber Albrecht.