Before and after can’t be helped.

Spring torrent, sudden and swift,

loss minus catastrophe.

Tangle of branch and bower,

birdcalls at dawn on the wakeup app.

Before and after can’t be helped.

Banked tears from years back,

unstopped: batten down, take shelter.

Loss isn’t catastrophic.

You are my world, my constancy:

a nightlight to keep the ghosts away.

Before and after can’t be helped.

Quincunx of flower and bark,

coiled wire, the magic ratio

of parts: loss minus catastrophe.

Transfinite give and take,

a bitter pill, unsweetened.

Before and after can’t be helped

but loss is no catastrophe.