The Strawberry Seller

Softly she says, "The highway is my mart.
Love do I sell, I sell the lovers heart.

Cars by the thousands pass the mountain way.
Then slowly she says, "It is the holy day"

It is a day to love, and not to sigh.
Here there is love, 'tis in the heart you buy.

Grey is her head. 'Tis white for one so young.
She has the eyes that no one yet has sung.

"Strawberries I sell, cool strawberries'" she cries.
Sweethearts I give you for the lips and the eyes.

"Sweethearts," she says, "the highway is my mart.
Love do I give; the strawberry is a heart."

John Shaw Neilson 1934

The Strawberry Seller 2011

---