By Eloise Jarvis McGraw
Author of The Rundelstone of Oz, Merry Go Round in Oz, The Forbidden Fountain of Oz, The Moorchild, etc.
Leaves, brown, gold and scarlet,
Drifting to the earth lazily;
Aimless, willing, like gaudy fools,
Who go through life
Waiting for death.
In their early days
All leaves are green.
But as they grow,
They change,
And weave their own color
As humans do their lives,
Some are crimson, some gold,
Unusual and gorgeous and conspicuous,
But most are sodden russet,
Dull, and brown.
Aimless, willing, like gaudy fools,
Who go through life
Waiting for death.
In their early days
All leaves are green.
But as they grow,
They change,
And weave their own color
As humans do their lives,
Some are crimson, some gold,
Unusual and gorgeous and conspicuous,
But most are sodden russet,
Dull, and brown.
Originally published in the Philadelphia Public Ledger, February 23, 1919.
Supposyville Happenings—The Message the Youth Brought the King and Queen
The wind was blowing at the rate
Of ninety miles an hour,
Supposyville’s pedestrians
Were helpless in its power.
The air was full of flying hats
And broken-ribbed umbrellas.
Before its blasts folks flew as if
Before a giant’s bellows.
The front doors creaked, the hinges squeaked,
The windows shook and rattled;
The trees lashed to and fro and with
The lusty tempest battled.
The King leaned out a casement and
His crown was snatched away.
It landed on a donkey to
The startled beast’s dismay.
Dame Bettsy Bumper’s poodle dog
Was howling in a tree,
Where it had blown with several cats
And hats for company.
“Prithee! it is a parlous day,”
Remarked the King. “Ho, Jerry!”—
He hailed a nimble page—“Go fetch
My crown, and in a hurry!”
Now through the wind-swept lands and roads
A messenger comes hying,
Bent double, pulled and tossed about
And sometimes simply flying.
He’s heading for the palace straight,
And then an awful blast
Picked him up and flung him hard
Against the door at last.
The footman heard the mighty knock
And slid the golden bar;
Open it flew. In shot the youth
Just like a shooting star.
The gust behind him swept him up
The stairs, and chairs went crashing.
Before they shut the door a lot
Of bric-a-brac went smashing.
“What is it?” cried the King and Queen.
“What news has brought you here?”
The youth sank down upon one knee—
“Know ye that March is near?”
The King and Queen leaned ’gainst the wall
And laughed and laughed—“And so
My thoughtful youth, you’ve just blown in
To tell us that. Ho! ho!”
(As if they didn’t know it already!)
Of ninety miles an hour,
Supposyville’s pedestrians
Were helpless in its power.
The air was full of flying hats
And broken-ribbed umbrellas.
Before its blasts folks flew as if
Before a giant’s bellows.
The front doors creaked, the hinges squeaked,
The windows shook and rattled;
The trees lashed to and fro and with
The lusty tempest battled.
The King leaned out a casement and
His crown was snatched away.
It landed on a donkey to
The startled beast’s dismay.
Dame Bettsy Bumper’s poodle dog
Was howling in a tree,
Where it had blown with several cats
And hats for company.
“Prithee! it is a parlous day,”
Remarked the King. “Ho, Jerry!”—
He hailed a nimble page—“Go fetch
My crown, and in a hurry!”
Now through the wind-swept lands and roads
A messenger comes hying,
Bent double, pulled and tossed about
And sometimes simply flying.
He’s heading for the palace straight,
And then an awful blast
Picked him up and flung him hard
Against the door at last.
The footman heard the mighty knock
And slid the golden bar;
Open it flew. In shot the youth
Just like a shooting star.
The gust behind him swept him up
The stairs, and chairs went crashing.
Before they shut the door a lot
Of bric-a-brac went smashing.
“What is it?” cried the King and Queen.
“What news has brought you here?”
The youth sank down upon one knee—
“Know ye that March is near?”
The King and Queen leaned ’gainst the wall
And laughed and laughed—“And so
My thoughtful youth, you’ve just blown in
To tell us that. Ho! ho!”
(As if they didn’t know it already!)
Copyright © 2026 Eric Shanower and David Maxine. All rights reserved.
