Hearken, how many years I sat alone, I sat alone and heard Only the silence stirred By wind and leaf, by clash of grassy spears, And singing bird that called to singing bird. Heard but the savage tongue Of my brown savage children, that among The hills and valleys chased the buck and doe, And round the wigwam fires Chanted wild songs of their wild savage sires, And danced their wild, weird dances to and fro, And wrought their beaded robes of buffalo. Day following upon day, Saw but the panther crouched upon the limb, Smooth serpents, swift and slim, Slip through the reeds and grasses, and the bear Crush through his tangled lair Of chaparral, upon the startled prey! Listen, how I have seen Flash of strange fires in gorge and black ravine; Heard the sharp clang of steel, that came to drain The mountain's golden vein And laughed and sang, and sang and laughed again, Because that "Now," I said, "I shall be known! I shall not sit alone, But shall reach my hands into my sister lands! And they? Will they not turn Old, wondering dim eyes to me and yearn-- Aye, they will yearn, in sooth, To my glad beauty, and my glad, fresh youth." INA D. COOLBRITH, in _Songs from the Golden Gate._ LET US MAKE EACH DAY OUR BIRTHDAY. WRITTEN ESPECIALLY FOR THE CALIFORNIA BIRTHDAY BOOK. Let us make each day our birthday, As with each new dawn we rise, To the glory and the gladness Of God's calm, o'erbending skies; To the soul-uplifting anthems Of Creation's swelling strains, Chanted by the towering mountains, Surging sea, and sweeping plains. Let us make each day our birthday-- Every morning life is new, With the splendors of the sunrise, And the baptism of the dew; With the glisten of the woodlands, And the radiance of the flowers, And the birds' exultant matins, In the young day's wakening hours. Let us make each day our birthday, To a newer, holier life, Rousing to some high endeavor, Arming for a nobler strife, Toiling upward, looking Godward, Lest our poor lives be as discords, In Heaven's symphony of love. S.A.R., _College Notre Dame, San Jose, Cal._ JANUARY 1. A NEW YEAR'S WISH. May each day bring thee something Fair to hold in memory-- Some true light to shine Upon thee in the after days. May each night bring thee peace, As when the dove broods o'er The young she loves; may day And night the circle of A rich experience weave About thy life, and make It rich with knowledge, but radiant With Love, whose blossoms shall be Tender deeds. HELEN VAN ANDERSON GORDON. JANUARY 2. THE MIRAGE ON THE CALIFORNIA DESERT.