To Golden Roads

You found the road, the distant road,
It wound itself away,
Its beauty burned from fragrant throats
Of wild rye and hay,
Its heart was in the turning tide
Of trees that barred the stream,
Its leaves blew breath across the boughs
That floated by the Gleam.
You felt it pass the solemn elk,
The stagnant pond, the lake,
The vivid green drew brushstrokes on
The silver, beaming brake;
You watched the summer cast away
And whisper love notes dear
Upon the glens, and harbored wrens
In little havens sheer.
You found the road, the distant road
Then looked into the shrouds
To find the leaves go drifting down
Amongst the marble clouds:
But though the trees were shining green---
An emerald, heaven-brought---
The veins upon the drifting leaves
Were gold---an angel's lot.
You passed the road a distant foot
A mile, wheeled free
While all around you golden leaves
Fell flowing from the trees.