Tell Me, Ye Kansas Winds - A poem by J. M. Cavaness

Tell Me, Ye Kansas Winds.

TELL me, ye Kansas winds
That round my pathway blow,
Is there nowhere a spot
Where mortal man may go;
No island in the sea,
No quiet foreign clime,
Where spring time comes without
The dire house-cleaning time?
A cyclone struck me with terrific blow,
And hurled me forty rods as.it resounded "No."

Oh, gentle birds that wing
Far to the south your flight,
Do you not know some land
Of loveliness and light,
Where beds are never sunned,
And carpets are not "beat,"
Where "stretchers" are not known,
And tacks don't prick your feet?
A large, dark bird then flew off with a "caw,"
And answered with a gruff, disdainful "Naw."

And thou resplendent moon,
Sweet empress of the night,
In whose mellifluous beams
All lovers take delight,
Do you not know a place^__
Some country east or west,
Where from house-cleaning man,
Poor man, can get a rest?
The moon then paler grew, and answered stow,
As from behind a cloud it whispered "No."

Oh, sweetener of my joys,
My other, better self,
Thou who hast sworn to share
My poverty or pelf,
Do you not know some spot,
On seen or unseen shore,
When these house-cleaning days
Shall come again no more?
"Yes, yes," she said, "these tacks must be driven,
You'll find that place sometime^__in heaven."

^__J. M. Cavaness.

Poems by Two Brothers
A. A. B. Cavaness & J. M. Cavaness
(Chetopa: J. M. Cavaness and Son. 1896)
Pages 88-90