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                                  Close-up

 

Far into the night, enemy ghouls fire at retreating light,

shooting it down as taught. But as the final glimmers

blip from our radar, we are greeted by the sight

of a wispy survivor who will not surrender its shimmer. 
 

Far into autumn, foreign armies outfitted in rotting gray

machine-gun fall’s lovingly dyed flags to mud-brown specks.

But just as rain and wind sweep the last dozen tatters away,

a glint in Nature’s eye called Spring stops Death in its tracks. 
 

Far into the desert, far into the jungle, flora and fauna devour

slow darting prey. But as camels, trees, ferns, cats and elephants

fatten at each other’s expense, they furnish the power

that electrifies our circle into growing elegant.


Never are we as far from the light as we think.

Never, but never, are we too near.

Let us not be afraid to hover on the brink

between ecstasy and fear.

 

 

(c) Phyllis Jean Green, 2004