E. H. Johnson

Most common moods

Most common topics

Poems

E. H. Johnson

The Hunter and the Fawn

For a breathless instant while we both stood still, I felt a wondrous kinship with the wild. This was our world, this fragrant, green-clothed hill, And God loved me, and I loved nature's child. Its liquid eyes begged of me not to shoot, Reproached me for usurping its domain. For in its eyes, I was the untamed brute.... It was I who fled -- and I won’t hunt again.

E. H. Johnson

Epitaphs

Their names are written on the sides Of boxcars in which they hook rides. Their names also appear on shacks Along the miles of railroad tracks. I have often wondered why it’s so, And now at last I think I know; The reason why their names appear, Is due to wistfulness, it’s clear. For hoboes are lonely, vagrant souls, Without real roots and clear-cut goals, Who long to leave some lasting sign To prove they, too, shared Life’s design.

Learn Poems app

Pick a short Johnson poem and learn it today.

Step-by-step learning, voice recordings you can share, and review reminders.