Jane Zwart
Borrowing
Both a borrower and a lender be--
both, even though, in the lease,
as in grace, it’s easier
if you assume the lordly part.
To part with a grudge or to trust
your son with the van cannot hold
a candle, for effort, to being forgiven
or even to taking an umbrella
held out by a young man in the rain.
But so much grows stronger or more sweet
only by passing between us.
Wearing my mother’s sweater, I crib
from the unworried cuffs a half-familiar joy
and later my mother, the sweater returned,
tugs it on before my warmth
can leave the sleeves.
Borrowing
Both a borrower and a lender be--
both, even though, in the lease,
as in grace, it’s easier
if you assume the lordly part.
To part with a grudge or to trust
your son with the van cannot hold
a candle, for effort, to being forgiven
or even to taking an umbrella
held out by a young man in the rain.
But so much grows stronger or more sweet
only by passing between us.
Wearing my mother’s sweater, I crib
from the unworried cuffs a half-familiar joy
and later my mother, the sweater returned,
tugs it on before my warmth
can leave the sleeves.