Deep-set in a brown cusp,
seeds cringe from the stalk
and cling to the outstretched flower head,
stashed grudgingly.
Hardened, massy,
details seize: a coat sleeve,
sock cuff, will receive
these little-if-anythings.
Starlings shatter upswept
in another clasp.
The rustle of growing old,
before being born.
Molly McQuade has served as managing editor of Studies in Dance History and as vice president of the Dance Critics Association. Her dance criticism has appeared widely.
This article originally appeared in The New Criterion, Volume 25 Number 5, on page 36
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