Nr Tondo, Philippines

On the way back from Smoky Mountain, I met some kids playing in the street next to a jeepeney.

The Children were shouting together
And racing along the sands,
A glimmer of dancing shadows,
A dovelike flutter of hands.


The stars were shouting in heaven,
The sun was chasing the moon:
The game was the same as the children’s,
They danced to the self-same tune.


The whole of the world was merry,
One joy from the vale to the height,
Where the blue woods of twilight encircled
The lovely lawns of the light.


George William Russell