Well, son, I’ll tell you: Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair. It’s had tacks in it, And splinters, And boards torn up, And places with no carpet on the floor-- Bare. But all the time I’s been a-climbin’ on, And reachin’ landin’s, And turnin’ corners, And sometimes goin’ in the dark Where there ain’t been no light. So boy, don’t you turn back. Don’t you set down on the steps ’Cause you finds it’s kinder hard. Don’t you fall now-- For I’s still goin’, honey, I’s still climbin’, And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair. A HOUSE IN TAOS _Rain_ Thunder of the Rain God: And we three Smitten by beauty. Thunder of the Rain God: And we three Weary, weary. Thunder of the Rain God: And you, she and I Waiting for nothingness. Do you understand the stillness Of this house in Taos Under the thunder of the Rain God? _Sun_ That there should be a barren garden About his house in Taos Is not so strange, But that there should be three barren hearts In this one house in Taos,-- Who carries ugly things to show the sun? _Moon_ Did you ask for the beaten brass of the moon? We can buy lovely things with money, You, she and I, Yet you seek, As though you could keep, This unbought loveliness of moon. _Wind_ Touch our bodies, wind. Our bodies are separate, individual things. Touch our bodies, wind, But blow quickly Through the red, white, yellow skins Of our bodies To the terrible snarl, Not mine, Not yours, Not hers, But all one snarl of souls. Blow quickly, wind, Before we run back into the windlessness,-- With our bodies,-- Into the windlessness Of our house in Taos. FOOTNOTES: [16] By permission of and special arrangement with Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., authorized publishers. [17] By permission of and special arrangement with Alfred A. Knopf. Inc., authorized publishers. [18] By permission of and special arrangement with Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., authorized publishers. [19] By permission of and special arrangement with Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., authorized publishers. [20] By permission of and special arrangement with Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., authorized publishers. [21] By permission of and special arrangement with Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., authorized publishers. [22] By permission of and special arrangement with Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., authorized publishers. [23] By permission of and special arrangement with Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., authorized publishers. [24] By permission of and special arrangement with Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., authorized publishers. [25] By permission of and special arrangement with Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., authorized publishers. GWENDOLYN B. BENNETT