Gamaliel Bradford
Although this poem is called The Riot I think it could just as easily be called The Writer’s Life.
The Riot
You may think my life is quiet.
I find it full of change,
An ever-varied diet,
As piquant as ’tis strange.
Wild thoughts are always flying,
Like sparks across my brain,
Now flashing out, now dying,
To kindle soon again.
Fine fancies set me thrilling,
And subtle monsters creep
Before my sight unwilling:
They even haunt my sleep.
One broad, perpetual riot
Enfolds me night and day.
You think my life is quiet?
You don’t know what you say.
Gamaliel Bradford (1863–1932)
Original art by Susan Taylor Brown
