Little Boy and Lost Shoe
Robert Penn Warren (1966)
The little boy lost his shoe in the field.
Home he hobbled, not caring, with a stick whipping goldenrod.
Go find that shoe – I mean it, right now!
And he went, not now singing, and the field was big.
Under the sky he walked and the sky was big.
Sunlight touched the goldenrod, and yellowed his hair.
But the sun was low now, and oh, he should know
He must hurry to find that shoe, or the sun will be down.
Oh, hurry, boy, for the grass will be tall as a tree.
Hurry, for the moon has bled, but not like a heart, in pity.
Hurry, for time is money and the sun is low.
Yes, damn it, hurry, for shoes cost money, you know.
I don't know why you dawdle and do not hurry.
The mountains are leaning their heads together to watch.
How dilatory can a boy be, I ask you?
Off in Wyoming,
The mountains lean. They watch. They know.
