A AND THE
A shingled shack beneath a hill,
A clump of alders—dangling still
Their russet leaves and just below,
A creek half-filled with ice and snow;
A chicken-coop and little pens—
Against the snow some rust-red hens;
A cow, a child with ragged coat—
And by the fence a billy-goat.
These were the things that caught my eye
From a car-window passing by.
To me it was a hill, a brook,
A house caught in a passing look;
But to the child with ragged coat
It was the house, the hill, the goat.
To me and to each other eye
That saw as we went swiftly by,
It was one rill of many rills,
One hill among a thousand hills,
One little man-made blotch upon
A changing ’scape that’s come and gone—
Oh what a difference there can be
’Twixt little things like A and The.