Contents -BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

Harriet Monroe, ed. (1860–1936). The New Poetry: An Anthology. 1917.

I Ask for a Friend

Ernest Walsh

I ASK a girl, for a friend—a playmate

Full of May-blown dreams; and lilac in her hair;

With boyish ankles, intimately strange

And hands forever busy with applause;

And mothering, lash-screened, virgin eyes;

And a slim-breasted body made of joy.

Her coming would mean spring to my heart;

We’d give our souls a holiday, cut loose,

Arrange a rendezvous with Love somewhere—

And forget to keep it, being good friends.

I ask a girl, for a friend—a playmate

Full of May-blown dreams; and lilac in her hair.