The Hex Sign

three poems

THE HEX SIGN

In this Pennsylvania Dutch country

The Swiss barns, where a man's barn is his castle,

Are brightly decorated with geometric patterns,

The hexafoos, witch foot, painted on their sides,

Sexfoil daisies or seven pointed yellow stars

In a white circle, and other curious designs.

Perhaps these schtanna, stars, and blumma, flowers,

Prevent the devil's entering the barn;

Or are they remnants of Alsatian sun-wheel worship?

Dr. Shoemaker proposes that they are

"Chust for nice" which makes them purely Art-

If Art means anything. I do not know;

But here they are, and they are beautiful.

HARMONY

(The Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park)