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Tuesday, August 28, 2012

ALL GONE




All Gone


Monday,
blossoms everywhere –
clover, Joe-Pye-weed, fleabane, Queen Anne’s lace, 
Jimson weed, jewelweed, knapweed,
black-eyed Susan, butter-and-eggs.
Finches flicking, hummingbirds bustling,
butterflies flitting, bumblebees madly gathering
(as though all their lives depended on it)
and I, watching, wondering at their hurry.
Wednesday, 
machines came
cut them down
leaving only
 decaying
 brown 
stalks
drying,
dying
in the
sun
and
every-
one
g
o
n
.
.
.
.
All photos by PSC




4 comments:

  1. Ohhhhh. This is beautifully done, with the diminishing word space, especially...makes my heart hurt.

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    Replies
    1. Oh -- then I've got it right! That's just exactly how I felt upon discovering that they'd mowed the area "clean". Thanks, De!

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  2. So sad! It is ironic that these beauties are cut down in their prime and you have captured this so well in this poem. Like the title--our dog, Cody, understands the phrase, "all gone" and this is very simple and apt for the situation here.:)

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    Replies
    1. Oh thanks, Patricia! It IS sad -- and so senseless. :-| Funny you should mention Cody's understanding of "all gone". When I wrote it, I was thinking that this is one of the first phrases that toddlers comprehend. (Great minds think alike, huh? LOL) Thanks, again, for stopping by & commenting. :-)

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