A flowery end

dahlia.jpg

"Days like this, I want to

go out and take off my clothes and put on

a cassock of dry leaves and carry

a crotched stick and get

down on my knees and give

the last rites to all the wilted dahlias

in kind Mrs. Higginson's backyard.''

-- From "Days Like This,'' by John Stevens Wade (a Maine native)