To have one love for all your life
And it as dear as breath,
To lose the shape of what you loved
In distance, then in death:

Yes, what a funny world it is,
Where this is not the worst
That can occur—and daily does.
The mouth that did not thirst

For yours is dust, and you are not.
Yet heedless of all doom,
The children shout immortal joys,
Again the roses bloom.

Marly Youmans is the author of three novels, including most recently The Wolf Pit (Harcourt/Harvest), reviewed in this issue. She has a book of poems forthcoming from LSU Press.

Copyright © 2003 by the author or Christianity Today/Books & Culture magazine.
Click here for reprint information on Books & Culture.