Know peace -- not as the calm heart knows
Low, ivied walls; a garden close;
And though he tread the humble ways of men
He shall not speak the common tongue again.
Who has known heights shall bear forevemore
An incommunicable thing
That hurts his heart, as if a wing
Beat at the portal, challenging;
And yet -- lured by the gleam his vision wore --
Who once has trodden stars seeks peace no more.
-- Mary Brent Whiteside
