FOR THE NEW YEAR, 1981 I have a small grain of hope — one small crystal that gleams clear colors out of transparency. I need more. I break off a fra… - Denise Levertov

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FOR THE NEW YEAR, 1981

I have a small grain of hope — one small crystal that gleams clear
colors out of transparency.
I need more.
I break off a fragment to send you.
Please take this grain of a grain of hope so that mine won’t shrink.
Please share your fragment so that yours will grow.
Only so, by division, will hope increase, like a clump of irises, which will cease to flower unless you distribute the clustered roots, unlikely source — clumsy and earth-covered — of grace.