Rabindranath Tagore 
Stray Birds 

1

STRAY birds of summer come to my window to sing and fly away.

And yellow leaves of autumn, which have no songs, flutter and fall there with a sigh.

2

O TROUPE of little vagrants of the world, leave your footprints in my words.

3

THE world puts off its mask of vastness to its lover.

It becomes small as one song, as one kiss of the eternal.

4

IT is the tears of the earth that keep her smiles in bloom.

5

THE mighty desert is burning for the love of a blade of grass who shakes her head and laughs and flies away.

6

IF you shed tears when you miss the sun, you also miss the stars.

7

THE sands in your way beg for your song and your movement, dancing water. Will you carry the burden of their lameness?

8

HER wistful face haunts my dreams like the rain at night.