Before senility

dum possum volo

Intermezzo of sorts, something to do with gifts.
In plainer style, or sweeter, some figment
of gratitude and reconciliation
with the near things, with remnancy and love:

to measure the ownerless, worn, eighteenth-
century tombstones realigned like ashlar;
encompass the stark storm-severed head
of a sunflower blazing in mire of hail.

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This article originally appeared in The New Criterion, Volume 26 Number 4, on page 31
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https://newcriterion.com/issues/2007/12/before-senility