Without a doubt beauty will
leave, without a pause it may
all go away, snuffed out
in an instant, altered in
the angles, heaven heavy upon
every crown, broken branch and
bent bough, the burden
hurled up cradle and all,
the slow strike of scratched out
lightning across the lot of
all this sparkle and pitch.
The world waves goodbye to
the luckless and the foolish,
the foot dragging along
the floorboards, the foundation shifting
beneath each ache.
Oh root, oh revel— let summer
uncoil through soil and stone
following the flower to the fruit,
merciless sunlight beating down
burnishing each burden
with a failing flourish,
the mindful moment
disbursed as heat and light.
