Poems (Kennedy)/Sea Gulls

by Sara Beaumont Kennedy

PILGRIM THOUGHTS

WE sit always at the fork of the road
 Where the thoughts of the world go by,
Seeking their goals in the hearts of men
    To sully or purify.

There stalks the incipient murder dream,
    And envy and malice and pain
Crowd close behind with a selfish leer
    Like the links of an unwound chain.

But, ah! the beautiful thoughts come, too,
    The thought of a love that is pure,
The clean, high thought of a conquering soul,
    And the rose-sweet hopes that lure.

And we sit forever beside the road
    Keeping the pilgrim score,
But only the thoughts come into our hearts
    To which we open the door.