free-verse12 lines
The Burden
by Theodosia GarrisonThe burden that I bear would be no less
Should I cry out against it; though I fill
The weary day with sound of my distress,
It were my burden still.
The burden that I bear may be no more
For all I bear it silently and stay
Sometimes to laugh and listen at a door
Where joy keeps holiday.
I ask no more save only this may be--
On life's long road, where many comrades fare,
One shall not guess, though he keep step with me,
The burden that I bear.