You Who Are Without Light

Bend but never break.
Take the shape fate offers
And make it your own,
Doing what needs done,
Before another day passes.

When autumn’s chill conceals
The promise of spring,
Cling to what remains—
Lavender, lilac, lily—
Less apology or regret.

Gather the fragrant garland,
A festival to wear.
Yes, you who are without light,
Right each indecent wrong,
Glimpse shadow’s slow retreat.

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Bart Edelman’s poetry collections include Crossing the Hackensack, Under Damaris’ Dress, The Alphabet of Love, The Gentle Man, The Last Mojito, The Geographer’s Wife, Whistling to Trick the Wind, and This Body Is Never at Rest: New and Selected Poems 1993 – 2023, forthcoming from Meadowlark Press.