Marianne Moore(1887–1972)
Nevertheless
you've seen a strawberry
that's had a struggle; yet
was, where the fragments met,
a hedgehog or a star-
fish for the multitude
of seeds. What better food
than a p p l e - s e e d s — t h e fruit
within the f r u i t — l o c k e d in
like c o u n t e r - c u r v e d twin
hazel-nuts Frost that kills
the little rubber-plant-
leaves of kok-saghyz-stalks,9can't
h a r m the roots; they still grow
in frozen ground. O n c e w h e r e
there w a s a prickly-pear-
leaf clinging to b a r b e d wire,
a root shot d o w n to grow
in earth two f e e t below;
a s carrots f o r m m a n d r a k e s '
or a ram's-horn root s o m e -
times. Victory won't c o m e
to me u n l e s s I go
to it; a grape-tendril
ties a knot in knots till
knotted thirty t i m e s , — s o
the b o u n d twig that's under-
g o n e a n d over-gone, can't stir.
T h e w e a k o v e r c o m e s its
m e n a c e , the strong over-
c o m e s itself. W h a t is there
like fortitude! W h a t s a p
went t h r o u g h that little thread
to m a k e the cherry red!