Times Like These - Gregory White

[Larry Robinson]

Times Like These

Friend, in times like these
here is what one does.

Enter that flowing meadow of
flowers you have been tending
all your life.  Invite your mother
and father to join you.

Name and praise each bloom,
bowing to all.  Even if
there is but one gem, fresh and 
eager, call out its name,
breathe its sweet ambrosia
rising to greet you.

Even if there is only one survivor,
faded, slumped, headed
for its return, bless its name
and bid it quick homecoming as
snail, vole, or finch.

If there are no flowers in your
meadow, weep, and weep again.
Your pure tears will water seeds
hidden long in the earth, waiting 
for new lives without care of grief.

This is what one does
in times like these.

	- Gregory White