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Forsythia

Text of Poem

You said, take a few dry
sticks, cut the ends slantwise
to let in water, stick them
in the old silver cup on the
dresser in the spare room and
wait for the touch of Easter.
But a cold wave protected the
snow, and the sap’s pulse beat
so low underground I felt no
answer in myself except silence.
You said, winter breaks out in
flowers for the faithful and
today when I opened the door
the dry sticks spoke in little
yellow stars and I thought
of you.

First Line
You said, take a few dry
Original Pub Location
Original Publication Date
1965
Original Citation
Poetry 106 (Sept. 1965) 406.
Republication
Complete Poems
149
Hearst Collections
Word Count
89
Poetic Form
open
Observations
In _A Tribute to James Hearst_ (22 November 1981), this poem is listed as Meryl Norton Hearst's favorite poem.
Themes