56 and Sunny

by Mitchell Geller
About Poetry Forum
Honorable Mention, June 2007
Judged by Bryan Appleyard


I concentrated far too much on death,
and somehow missed the violet and the crocus,
and sharp green shoots that sucked the sun like breath.
I concentrated far too much on death;
ignored the rose, or some such shibboleth —
let pure, prismatic joy escape my focus.
I concentrated far too much on death,
and somehow missed the violet and the crocus.