The Arithmetic of Alternation

(The Lady and the Flower, medieval woodcut)

There are always two sides — back and forth, here and there, to and fro. . . .

THE ARITHMETIC OF ALTERNATION

today I write
of the shadows
flowers make
on a white wall,
the texture of petals
and leaves like a flat braille,
a brightness
even without color

but tomorrow
I will tell
how on the warmest day
there is an icy edge
to things, a darkness
at the rim
of every shining
object

this is the arithmetic
of alternation,
the way the hours,
the seasons
arrange themselves.
it keeps us honest,
it keeps us turning
the page

~ Linda Pastan, born 1932, American poet