Invitation BY MARK KIRSCHEN Come out into the open where We all are: at the center of a bridge Whose dark river draws all light And the nearest weeds to itself Here to search out love— Discarded hearts at the city's edge— Where fish follow their fathers' routes And we cannot lift up to thread the constellations If you meet me here I will make you a myth: you will show As cold points between the clouds If you meet me here your light Will hold the eyes of descendants Unable to find a crossing over the dark river

Sympathy BY PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR I know what the caged bird feels, alas!     When the sun is bright on the upland slopes; When the wind stirs soft through the springing grass, And the river flows like a stream of glass;     When the first bird sings and the first bud opes, And the faint perfume from its chalice steals— I know what the caged bird feels! I know why the caged bird beats his wing     Till its blood is red on the cruel bars; For he must fly back to his perch and cling When he fain would be on [...]

In the bleak midwinter BY CHRISTINA ROSSETTI In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan, Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone; Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow, In the bleak midwinter, long ago. Our God, Heaven cannot hold Him, nor earth sustain; Heaven and earth shall flee away when He comes to reign. In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed The Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ. Enough for Him, whom cherubim, worship night and day, Breastful of milk, and a mangerful of hay; Enough for Him, whom angels fall before, The ox and ass and [...]