Reckoning

They who are strong have claimed an earthly peace,

Gathering their strength in this treasured hour

When the winds hush, the muted waters cease,

And fog with misty wings has raised a tower

Of silence as a harbor for the stars:

When hills have cleft the sky with brooding peaks

Thrust in the purple bowl, raised solemn bars

Against all utterance, he who then speaks

Shall in this mighty breathlessness be heard.

They shall be heard, the weary and the spent,

The broken at the wheel, the fledgling bird,

Each grievous thought, each yearning here unspent

Shall have its reckoning when the hills confide.

They shall find strength where peace and time abide.