GARDENER
by Ann North

Some of the seeds of hope
Planted tentatively in the fall
Have not come up
They lie stillborn and unrealized
Somewhere in the spring soil
Decaying

The Strongest and best ones
Pushed up though the leaves
And layers of cold, hard resistance
Right into clear blue air
And stand there nakedly green
Breathing

It's alway that way with growing things
Never knowing at the start
Which will make it and which will fail
But the thing to hold fast to
Never to lose faith in
Is simply
Sowing