In a Garden
There was a paved alley there,
apple trees and a lush lawn—
and over the grey wall where the plums were
stood the red brick of the chapel.
While over the long white wall
where the green apples grew
and the rusted pears
hung the grey tower of the church;
so high, you couldn't see the top
from that narrow garden.
In that narrow garden
on that lush lawn,
we found a ball left from some croquet game.
It had a blue stripe girdling it
and "ah"—I thought,
"it is your soul about me
and we are flung
between our separate desires."
[ . . . ]
John Rodker's poem "In a Garden" was published in the 1917 Others anthology. To read this poem in full in a digitized version of this publication, follow the link(s) below: