( what we cherish we desire forever ) photos taken in Minnesota on a late summer afternoon by Emily Saunders, poem by Daniel Brick born in Minnesota in 1947
______
My friend,
before the tea cools, and loses
its fragrance, let us pour one more cup
and share gratifying discourse
about the ten thousand things.
Not a day goes by without
flocks of birds seeking
traces of that northward path
they will soon descend
to restore their southern homes.
Not a day goes by without
hot breezes squeezing
fragrances of early summer
across the trembling August air
deep within peach-colored apples.
Oh, can we bind together
like sheaths of wheat
these late summer days
and store them in a hidden granary
for needful seasons yet to come?
Already August dissolves
into September, which
dissolves into October, which
disappears in the first snow
of November and December ice.
Is it true, as you have said,
what we cherish we desire forever?
Then, let us cherish many things:
sheets wrinkled by sleep, pennies
stashed in a chest, old letters
from distant friends, red and yellow roses,
a book of poems given by a dear friend,
a diary, a chess set, pictures
painted by children, an amethyst crystal,
memories of a lost, beautiful love.
If it is true, as you have said,
what we cherish we desire forever,
then, let us cherish many things
so that our desires become immortal,
and our names unforgettable….