Sunday, June 15

REFUSAL

In memoriam
Lore Segal (1928-2024)

Acclaim
Nature’s hues
in fall and spring
gold and rust
lilac and rose
azaleas aflame
petal and leaf
conspiring
in unbelief
that by and by
they and I
must come in grief
to dust.
Refuse
to seed
in shame
what Nature sows
and choose
what leaf and petal and wayward weed
all know:
grow.

(Cynthia Ozick)