Evening on the Prairie

By MARY D. MCFADDEN.
Tonight, dear heart, when the smoke hangs low Between my eyes and the sunset’s glow
My heart turns back from the futile town, To the plains, where the dusk comes settling down Over the prairie we used to know.

And once again ’round the prairie’s rim, I’m watching the great blue circles skim, Bounding the vastness, level and clean
Of a world, wind-winnowed and good and green- A world, all luminous, quiet and grand- God’s bountiful, opulent prairie land!

And now, when sundown is cooling the air- The prairie we know and love is fair, And clouds of crimson and purple and gold Are low to the westward, fold upon fold- And oh! what hushes, from far and away, Come close to the ground at the end of day!

No peak there catches the sunset gleam, No light glint flashes from running stream; Far through the distance, unchecked, the eyes See only the plain and the golden skies, And soul and infinite, face to face, Meet on this level of light and space!