THE PURPLE DRESS

The purple grapes were plump and sweet
Soft with dusky bloom
Sweet and warm with summer sun
That late summer afternoon

She wore a purple velvet dress
White ribbon in her hair
She had taken off her sandals
And her slender young arms were bare

She wandered into the vineyard
Behind the lazy Easter fair
No one marked her absence
No one saw her disappear

Was it the purple grapes that called to her
Or some other voice she heard
Was it a hand that beckoned to her
Without a word?

The purple grapes were plump and sweet
Soft with dusky bloom
Sweet and warm with summer sun
That late summer afternoon

They found the little velvet dress
White ribbon tied to a vine
Four clods of earth round a cluster of grapes
To make a shrine

And the purple grapes were plump and sweet
Soft with dusky bloom
Sweet and warm with summer sun
That late summer afternoon

Sweet and warm with summer sun
That late summer afternoon