Any groveller
May be straightened by a cross
If he lies down upon it at night,
And sleeps upon it with outstretched arms;
If he rises in the morning,
And shoulders it bravely,
Neither resenting it
Nor being ashamed of it,
He will find that he can bring his eyes
To look upon life
Instead of upon the grave,
And that he will even be able
To lift them to the stars;
And that he can live
On the levels he is able to look upon.
----------
[2] I do not know whether these poems have been published
elsewhere or not. They were read by Ellen Gates Starr in a mass
meeting in Kent Theatre on the University of Chicago campus—a
mass meeting in protest against police brutality during the
garment strike.
What Then—?