Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
Barbara Lydecker CraneOctober 10, 2011

Where is a measured clarity?
I work, obsess, give up, despair—
not like the singing world in vernal

balance. If I possessed internal
equanimity, I’d keep
a steady state like equinox.

No overlooking, though, the shocks
that bracket equal day and night—
through droughts and quakes and hurricanes,

somehow resilient Earth maintains
its equilibrium, with time
and timeless, unknown sense.

The spring will play in plot and sequence—
snowdrop, crocus, tulip, lily—
allotted spaces, days to flower.

Winter doesn’t dint their power:
it allows it. Constant blooming
would fracture greater symmetry.

Daily roses would limit me,
as well. I’ll trust in wider arcs
circling into parity.

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.

The latest from america

The people of God see the bishop of Rome as a teacher, but they also unquestionably see him as a father.
J.D. Long GarcíaMay 01, 2025
Since the death of Pope Francis, lists of his possible successors have proliferated on social media and in newspapers. Should you trust them?
Colleen DulleMay 01, 2025
A Homily for the Third Sunday of Easter, by Terrance Klein
Terrance KleinApril 30, 2025
In a pre-conclave meeting, an Italian cardinal, and backer of Cardinal Parolin as next pope, attacked Pope Francis for opening positions of responsibility in the church to men and women not in holy orders.
Gerard O’ConnellApril 30, 2025