BACKWARD GLANCE

Blighted by frost,

The half-hearty fuchsia

Deliquesces black.

And yet the day improves,

October oriole,

With the warmth conjuring

Summer.

By the shore,

Breakers unzip white,

And the wind intones

Reef Lecture

Across the bay.

For a moment,

And the eternity of

An afternoon,

We again find love,

Learn to take face value

As the whole truth –

Remembering yesterday

As only a memory away.

Copyright Michael Newman