UC-NRLF H694I DMM iff MEXICAN MOONLIGHT RUSSELL MERIWETHER HUGHES ; BOSTON RICHARD G. BADGER THE GORHAM PRESS \ Copyright, 1921, by Russell M. Hughes All Rights Reserved MADE IN THE UNITED STATES OP AMERICA THE GORHAM PRESS, BOSTON, U. S. A. To DAVID A. NEWCOMER M191957 CONTENTS PAGE Love Song 9 Mexican Moonlight 10 The Canyon Trail 15 Spring Enchantment 18 In the Shadows 19 The Desert 22 Romance Rides 23 The Broken String 25 Idle Dusk 26 Desolation 27 This Time Last Year 28 To H. M 30 La Casa Grande 31 Why 33 A Cowboy to a Wire Fence 34 Envy 35 Color 36 Rajham Khan's Song 37 "Yaller" 38 MEXICAN MOONLIGHT Mexican Moonlight LOVE SONG If you could love me half as much, O, my dear, my dear, Within the swaying hours of all The long, sweet year, As I love you within the falling Of one tear, I think I could be satisfied, O, my dearest dear! Mexican Moonlight MEXICAN MOONLIGHT (ETCHINGS) i The clouds of your blue-black hair Crowd, Heavy, About the bright moon Of your face When you lift your star-spangled comb. I feel a storm of passion Gathering over me ! 2 A CHILD) Madre, Does the moon Chant lullabies? Or is it only The crickets Singing? Mexican Moonlight 3 The midsummer moon Laughing over the lacy tree-top* Is like your piquant, White face Above your black mantilla. 4 There is a southwind And a full moon to-night. The moon and the wind Sicken my heart within mf For things That have been And cannot be. 5 The mocking-bird Is chanting melodies, But I do not hear him, For your voice Is throbbing Beneath my casement, fi Mexican Moonlight And when it ceases I pray The rose I have thrown Has kissed The lips I have never seen, O, my Caballero! 6 A gili-monster Crouches under the lily, And I carry a stilleto In my garter Lest your love waver. 7 (THE HUNCH-BACK) The cactus-plant blossoms Red and yellow. I love you. 8 My heart breaks for you. But To-day's butterfly Is dead To-morrow. 12 Mexican Moonlight 9 To die is happy. The moonlight silvers the grass The southwind whispers Thru sick-sweet Magnolias. The lover singing to the senorita In the casa next to mine Hums the song You sang. 10 (THE CHILD) To-night the moon Is a great, new Tortilla. But soon The wind will have eaten it Bite by bite, All away. Mexican Moonlight II The Senora is fairer Than you. But. The moon is cold And the little stars Are more desirable. 12 The crescent moon Rises from the billows Of the purple clouds. So might your Naked beauty Rise from the pillows Of your couch. Mexican Moonlight THE CANYON TRAIL There's a trail we all must travel leadin' to a canyon edge And th' bottom o' th' canyon is lost in endless night, An' we tremble at th' shadows as we peer across th' ledge For th' other wall is nothingness, pierced once with beacon-light. But we know that thar is sumthin' on th' canyon's other side, For th' learned folks, they tell us, an' besides, our hearts, they know. But I often sit an' wonder if it's like th' trail I ride Thru th' wavin' grass in springtime, when th' winds thet chuckle, blow. They hev promised that it's "fairer far than aught upon this earth." 'Pears tu me that's right impossible, 'cause ridin' o' th' plains Forever an' forever is lots more than I am worth, Since they promised we'd be free of fleas an' snakes an' "fleshly pains." Mexican Moonlight Fill yur pipe an' think about it, pardner, wakin' up tu find A pony waitin' fer yu, nickerin' with ears stuck up, Hearin' leather creak, an' hoof-beats, an' a sun a- smilin' kind Dawn-wind blowin' an' yur cayuse frettin* like a playful pup. Watch th' praries rollin' westward, lost in gold an' ruby bars, An' th' moon a-risin', smilin' like th' lady o' yur heart ; An' yu lie down by yur camp-fire, thet's a-winkin' at th' stars Feel th' dew come thru th' sky's coat where th' linin's ripped apart. Singin' songs an' tellin' stories with th' boys thet's gone before. Ropin' long-horned Texas cattle (tho' they don't deserve tu go!) Wond'rin' at this old world's beauty. Reckon I don't want no more, Sittin' easy-like an' watchin' where th' herd is millin* slow. 16 Mexican Moonlight Halos wuzn't made tu fit me. Rather hev my Stetson hat, An' I'm much too thin an ugly tu wear "th' gar- ments white." Drinkin' milk an' eatin' honey Hell! I couldn't live on that! An' think o' singing hyms an' playin' harps all day an' night! Reckon He has got us branded, an' He'll herd us tu th' place Where we fit in best an* pardner, I jes' hope my brand is right When I pull my pony's head up, an' finish with th' race An* cross th' gloomy canyon tu th' streak o* beacon-light. Mexican Moonlight SPRING ENCHANTMENT Under the soft enchantment of the spring We sat beneath a blossoming cherry-tree, And from the open book upon your lap You read an ancient poet's lines to me. The poem was all of spring, and lovers' loves. Softly I took the hand upon your knee And kissed it. All unknowing, you read on. And yet you read the same line thrice to me. 18 Mexican Moonlight IN THE SHADOWS In the shadows of the canyon rides a cowboy, loping slow, And his scarlet scarf is flapping, And his leather chaps are slapping And he times his pony's hoof-beats with a song he's singing low. "O, I'm coming tu you thru th' night's soft gloom, Senorita with velvet eyes, O'er th' hill where th' manzanitas bloom Red as your lips where my last kiss lies, And the caballeros that crowd tu your feet, Mia amore, th' world may see, And theirs is your smile when th' daylight is sweet, But your kisses are all for me." In the shadows of the patio stands a maid with velvet eyes, And the wanton breeze is playing Thru her hair and softly saying "He is coming, thru the safety of the night's en- shrouding skies." 19 Mexican Moonlight "O, he comes, tho' the canyon walls rear stark, Mi, amor, mi corizon, And the hoofs of his pony strike fire in the dark, Fire that mounts to the purple dawn. My home and my father I'm leaving for thee. (Why do my frightened pulses start?) But love is the master that bids me flee And answer the call of my heart." In the shadow of the palm-tree a menacing shadow creeps And the maiden's eyes are dreaming But a dagger-point is gleaming As they wait within the garden where the calla- lily sleeps. "O, he's coming to love, but its death he'll find, At the end of my thirsty point, death ! And never his brows with her hair shall he bind, And he never will know the ghost of her breath. A gringo is not for the blushing rose, Perfect rose of Old Mexico, And or ever the first faint dawn-wind blows, He will sleep the sleep of eternal snow." Mexican Moonlight In the shadows of the dawning lies a cowboy, still and cold, On his lips a smile of gladness, But the maiden's laugh is madness And her fingers touch his hair, but her face is drawn and old. "The garden flowers awake with the day, But you sleep, tho' I touch your hair, My father awakes, and you must not stay, Tho' you smile, there is danger there. I have called you and called you with kisses of love, Why are your lips so dumb? And the dawning has pierced thru the black above Mi amor, O, why did you come?" 21 Mexican Moonlight THE DESERT The bare, Swelling desert Is like dull silver Under the light Of the late, summer moon. The little stars Are soft with caresses And the wind is laden With priceless perfumes Of the south. Even the far-off coyote's cry Is mournful-sweet. My desert-land is as fair As any woman And truer! 22 Mexican Moonlight ROMANCE RIDES Romance rides with a foot-loose rein, Over the world and back again. He jingles his spurs in the twilight's gloom Peopled with memories born of a sigh. A shadow is cast by his broad-brimmed hat Over the heat when the sun is high. Whistling a tune, unamazed, unafraid, Facing the world with a laugh in his eye, Daring to love and to hate as he wills, Daring to live, and daring to die. Ready the bark of his blue six-gun Quick as his laugh or his hunting-cry, Part of the wind and the unfenced plains, Part of the sea and part of the sky. Singing love-songs to the low, soft moon; Taking the trail that is hardest to ride, Hardest to ride, tho' it's blazed very clear With a heart and an arrow on either side. Mexican Moonlight Over the mesa and out of the pass Down where the canyon plunges to night; Out where the sage and the bluebonnets bloom ; Marking the curve of the eagle's flight. Over the death of the desert's waste; Topping a peak with a snow-capped crest; Down to the cool of the forests' shade; Giving bullet for bullet and jest for jest. Scarlet scarf in the cool dawn-wind; Leather on leather and rythmical beat, (Echoed by whirr of the riata's loop As it falls) of the pony's flying feet. Romance rides out of the sunset's fire And follows the trail of the Heart's Desire. Mexican Moonlight THE BROKEN STRING Brightly-colored glass beads. But the string has broken And the gay baubles Have scattered away over the floor Uncollectably. They were my thoughts of you Strung on the string Of my faith. Mexican Moonlight IDLE DUSK Do you recall the idle dusk we sat And watched the rising of the old, red moon, And listened to the frogs' and crickets' hum That deepened twilight stillness into gloom. The scent of sodden green things in the brook Commingled with crushed wild-flowers where you lay. A mocking-bird sighed softly, and the bell Of cows, home-driven with the dying day Struck deeply. Night-winds fanned thru the trees That magic dusk turned into purple mist, And high above the one last touch of day Clung to the canyon-crag the sun had kist. Beautiful things in the woof of a faery hour Peopled with thoughts as old and rare as musk. How could we know the treasure-trove we found As, hand in hand, we dreamed thru the idle dusk. 26 Mexican Moonlight DESOLATION Yesterday The wind chuckled Thru shining mesquite trees, And a mocking-bird Sang To a sunbeam That danced On a rose. But today A dejected pony Stands, Head down and tail-to-wind And there is no sound Save the desolate beat Of the rain, And the mournful cry Of a dove. For yesterday You lived. Mexican Moonlight THIS TIME LAST YEAR "This time last year"! O, the magic phrase, dear! Mysterious as "Once upon a time" and "Long ago." Let us draw the curtains And sit before the fire, dear, And wander down the pathways that we used to know. Crisp and frosty mornings, Diamond-studded tree-tops, Shout and merry shout again down the snowy trail. Sweet summer dawn, set With dew-entangled blossoms, Hiding 'neath the gossamer of the spider's veil. Cherry-blooms in Springtime. (O, don't you remember?) Kiss and kiss returned again where the petals fell. Dreaming thru the noonday Lost in love's imaginings, Calling down into the depths of the wishing well. 28 Mexican Moonlight Twilight, starlit, Hand within my hand, dear, Wandering a-down the road, crisp with autumn leaves. Gold and red and brown leaves Wavering around us, Moving in the circle that the west wind weaves. Raindrops pattering All along the low eaves. (Turn the lights lower and watch the shadows creep.) Pattering a low song Full of home and love, dear, Home and love and lullabies, and baby eyes that sleep. "This time last year" And many happy years ago. (I can see the firelight sparkle on your tears.) Sweet youth, lost youth Creeping back with twilight, Shyly smiling at us thru the dusk of years. 29 Mexican Moonlight TO H. M. You who loved the open places so, Whose soul sang in a sunset or a star, The sleepy mocking-bird's belated note Over the silvered desert quivering far. Magnificently fearless, roughly kind, And, better than all these things, serenely true, The little night-winds whisper that you loved, Whisper again the tales they told to you. A gold-brown butterfly has come with fall And gold-brown leaves. All is the same As it was yesterday. And these things speak As surely of you as if they spoke your name. Brave heart! I pray when you have won the shore Beyond the shadow river, when you face That beautiful Beyond, it will unroll In blinding desert-lands that stately pace In purple folds to sunset-crimsoned skies, And all the ghosts of winds from this lost land Will whisper age-old tales in the huisache tree, And a bridle-bit will jingle 'neath your hand. Mexican Moonlight LA CASA GRANDE It is set far back in its rolling, purpling lawns, And the tall, green palms Reach up like open hands To caress its shadowed walls. The bold, lu,sh flowers are so brilliant That, even at night, They glow and shine beneath the myriad stars That whisper thru the gloom. The desert wind sighs secrets thru the trees Age-old secrets to the huisache tree And broad bananna leaves. A frog Booms out a bass accompaniment to the cry The crickets' chant. Far off A glass tinkles and a girl Laughs lightly. And the strum Of a guitar and wailing of a violin Croon "La Paloma" to the Spanish night. And, somehow, on the balcony, A shadow flits. A phantom hand lays light along the stone Mexican Moonlight Of the great pillar; And a dream-ghost face Smiles out from underneath black, curling hair Muffled, O, ever so lightly, with the sheer Gossamer of a white robosa. And she throws A red rose to a long-dead lover's song. The "Dove Song" dies and surely there is naught Within the balcony save cobwebbed dark But on the garden walk the lazy wind Stirs faded petals of a dead, red rose. (For Lillian) Mexican Moonlight WHY Why does the crest of the laurel-tree, Dim in the twilight, Moving gently in desert winds, Wrench forth a sigh, And make me wonder, vaguely As the soft night, Why should God's beauties live While we must die? 33 Mexican Moonlight A COWBOY TO A WIRE FENCE Yu onery, thousand-legged, skinney ole cuss! Yu sure give me one awful pain! Ef I rambled th' whole o' this wide-spreadin' earth I'd run intu you jus' th' same. Yu set thar a-grinnin' ! I can't see no joke ! Yu glitter, fer miles, in th' sun. Now I could wheel my pony an' leave yu behind, But I'd meet yu agin, on th' run. Yur plumb quiet, intrudin' yur length on th' plains They say yu are better then ropes An' horses fer herdin' up cattle. It looks Like they're right, an' thar ain't any hopes. I could swing my riata 'round one o' yur posts An' drag yu, plumb easy, tu hell. But thar's too dam much of yu. It isn't no use. Which, I recken, is just as well. What you think o' it, Broncho? I don't need tu ask With yur ears an' yur head hangin' low. It hez beat us, ole hoss, at our own game. I guess Thar ain't nuthin' fer us but tu go. 34 Mexican Moonlight ENVY Are you awake to-night, sweetheart While the moon stoops low in the sky, Stoops like a bride in a misty veil While the stars go whirling by? I think I am very envious Of the moon and the wind from the south For one may ruffle your hair to-night And the other may kiss your mouth. 35 Mexican Moonlight COLOR Gold deserts and gold clouds; A gray coyote ; A rain-dove, sighing low, Its lonesome note; A black-snake coils and gleams; A cactus-bloom Raises a scarlet chalice o'er its thorns With sweet perfume; A bright mesquite tree waves; An azure sky; And, reeling out against the setting sun, Black buzzards fly. Mexican Moonlight RAJHAM KHAN'S SONG There was a night when you were wholly mine. I swam in the purple sea of your shining hair. My kisses burnt hot on your lips that gave them again, For I was the Strong and you, my love, were the Fair. O, many a sun has set, and other lips Have drunk their fill of your full lips scarlet wine, But when his love wearies, I pray you, remember, Sweet, That there was a night when your beauty was wholly mine. 37 Mexican Moonlight "YALLER" Thar's a cross-roads in West Texas on th' Crawlin' River floor And a 'dobe shack squats down thar among th' brush an' stones. It's a place thet's most permiscuous fer th' sort o' general store Thet is kep' by him th' cowboys hev cognomened "Yaller" Jones. "Yaller" is th' sort o' feller thet is small, an' awful meek, With blue eyes thet seem tu be a-seein' things thet are not there! Hez a sort o' foolish grin, an' tells yu "turn th' other cheek" When yu're whalloped. So th' nickname seemed tu fit him purty fair ! He's a Yankee frum New England. College eddi- cated ! Say ! Perlitest lil'l feller ever thar could be. Brought his half-a-lung, fer savin', out Crawlin' River way, Tho' whut he got frum livin', us cowhands couldn't see. 38 Mexican Moonlight Once th' sheriff put a sign up on "Yaller's" li'l door, Tellin' those who cared tu read it, thet a two- gun man wuz out By th' name o' "Terror" Johnson, an' th' outfit thet he wore Would be worth, with him inside it, several hun- dred, thereabout. One dark night when li'l "Yaller" wuz a-readin' o' his book Some guy pumped twelve six-gun bullets at th' middle o' th' door, Which, when opened, showed a feller with a awful nasty look. 'Tut my letters on thet sign thar. Are yu wantin' any more?" But when he seed 'twas "Yaller" he jus' laughed an' started 'roun' An' helped himself, rambunctious, tu whut he wanted in th' place. A-throwin' whut he didn't want, right keerless, on th' ground An' then he ended up by slappin' "Yaller" in th' face. 39 Mexican Moonlight Now us boys hed laughed at "Yaller," but we figgered we wuz men, An' o' course we couldn't hit him, 'cause he wuz so small an' weak, So we never could quite "sabe" whut happened thar an' then After "Yaller" ups an' lets th' bad man slap his other cheek. He jus' smiled an' rolled his sleeves up, moved th' table an' th' chairs Sayin', soft-like, "Will you please remove your guns, and we will fight." An' th' "Terror" laughed uproarous, flinging cuss- words everywheres, But he took his two blue gats off, an' walked intu "Yaller's" right Then things happened rather startlin', like a locoed cyclone loose, An' "Yaller," with thet bad man, sorta mussed his place up some, An' when he hed him roped an' tied up, like a Christmas goose, He set down an' read his bible, 'til th' sheriff's posse come. 40 Mexican Moonlight When they took him out tu hang him, th j "Terror's" last request Wuz tu know how "Yaller" done it. An' him, standin' in th' door, Raised his eyes an' smiled so meekly, an' boys, I'll be blest! He jes' murmured "Jiu jitsu," an' he wouldn't say no more. "Quien sabe" all th' meanin' of that funny li'l word, But when I seen th' gizzard thet thet li'l feller bed Wuz "Slap-ee" twict, an' then lit in an' cleaned th' slapper-bird. Well, someway, I guess a college eddication ain't so bad! RETURN TO the circulation desk of any University of California Library or to the NORTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY Bldg. 400, Richmond Field Station University of California Richmond, CA 94804-4698 ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS 2-month loans may be renewed by calling (510)642-6753 1-year loans may be recharged by bringing books to NRLF Renewals and recharges may be made 4 days prior to due date. DUE AS STAMPED BELOW AUG232000 12,000(11/95) YB 73668 M191957 KK. THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY