Tag Archives: Great Lakes

by Ethel Mortenson Davis

There are many times
when our houses
fall down around us,
when no part is left
recognizable.

Then we must pick
the best of the old stones
to build new rooms.

But we must also take
the new maple,
just sawn,
white like the sands
along the Great Lakes,
and build something shining.

We must make brand new gables,
whose attic windows
are left open for birds
to fly through,
the birds of heaven—

and the Barn Owl
who finds shelter
for her life.