Thursday, February 24, 2022

The Essay

 by Lois Rosenthal


The essay on beauty

looked down on a forest

full of rounded green shapes 

and found them pleasing to the eye.


It said we love the trees in their beauty,

love the web of nature

that sustains them and relies on them.


It said their beauty draws us in

and makes us part of that web.


Nowhere did it say 

how to protect ourselves

from the sight of beauty being consumed by flames,


how to keep the ghastly red image from burning

through our eyes straight through to the soul

reducing our sense of hope

to ashes.


Does anyone know?

If so please tell us

that we may again

believe in renewal.


Lois Rosenthal is a resident of Winthrop MA. Her educational background is in the physical sciences. At Temple Tifereth Israel Winthrop she has been a Hebrew School teacher, lay leader of services, and Bar/Bat Mitzvah tutor. She is also a member of the local CREW chapter of MA Poetry Society.