17. People With Proud Chins. V. Mist Forms. Sandburg, Carl. 1920. Smoke and Steel

Verse > Carl Sandburg > Smoke and Steel > V. Mist Forms > 17. People With Proud Chins

Carl Sandburg (1878–1967). Smoke and Steel. 1922.

V. Mist Forms

17. People With Proud Chins

I TELL them where the wind comes from,
Where the music goes when the fiddle is in the box.

Kids—I saw one with a proud chin, a sleepyhead,
And the moonline creeping white on her pillow.
I have seen their heads in the starlight	5
And their proud chins marching in a mist of stars.

They are the only people I never lie to.
I give them honest answers,
Answers shrewd as the circles of white on brown chestnuts.