Nothing gold can stay.
—Robert Frost

How timely that you have
goldened in fall—

late fall at that—your
timing excellent

as leaf subsides to leaf,
each brightening day

a gift you dearly want
to unwrap. You are not

wanting winter. Neither
do we ever want the cold,

the waiting for warmth’s
return. But here we are,

you goldened, us with
you, holding Frost’s hardest

hue—as we are all held
with so much grace.

•••

(for Mom)

•••

Lines from “Nothing Gold Can Stay” by Robert Frost, published in his 1923 collection,
New Hampshire: A Poem with Notes and Grace Notes.