Read "Talismans" by Edwina Stanton Babcock online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
Just now the Mother left me, and I stand / Holding her trove, a sheaf of shining curl -- / All that is left of "Once a little girl," / Alive and warm and glowing in my hand.
Like to a Seer gazing into space, / I muse upon this silken treasure, where / The coiled lights quicken, and I see the fair / Woman-ward leaning of a childish face.
I see that face gaze down the crowded years, / Quite unamazed, unchanged through all the stir / To find the deep maternal heart of Her, / Who gazes back all undeterred by tears.
I see the child eyes give their radiant speech / Once more to mother-eyes that never failed; / I see a heart that never yet has quailed / Answer those eyes over the long years' reach.
The Winter sun goes down; quick chills the air / Outside my window. While the West grows old, / I stand in Sanctuary, for I hold / Undying Faith, enshrined in golden hair.