ANTHOLOGY OF MASSACHUSETTS POETS (52)
DEAREST, we are like two flowers Blooming in the garden, A purple aster flower and a red one Standing alone in a withered desolation.
The garden plants are shattered and seeded, One brittle leaf scrapes against another, Fiddling echoes of a rush of petals. Now only you and I nodding together.
Many were with us; they have all faded. Only we are purple and crimson, Only we in the dew-clear mornings, Smarten into color as the sun rises.
When I scarcely see you in the flat moonlight, And later when my cold roots tighten, I am anxious for morning, I cannot rest in fear of what may happen.
You or I-and I am a coward. Surely frost should take the crimson. Purple is a finer color,
Very splendid in isolation.
So we nod above the broken Stems of flowers almost rotted. Many mornings there cannot be now For us both. Ah, Dear, I love you!