Vox Populi
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Alison Hurwitz: On Resilience
In 8th grade English class my son’s assigned
a sonnet, asked to find an image, select
one metaphor that can expand to bind
disparate thoughts together. He can’t connect
the dots until he thinks of moss in diffuse
light, the way that rain will spore a green
crescendo in the pavement cracks, whose
exhale slips to stillness. Moss between
rough things, green rivulets that spread to fill
his lines. Fern undergrowth, its script writ small
yet intricate as lace, extending until
cairn and culvert, bare escarpment, all
the stony places glow, unfurling plush
in crannies where the air may soften, hush.
~~~~
Copyright 2026 Alison Hurwitz
Alison Hurwitz (she/her), is a former cellist and dancer who finds music in language.
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Oh Alison, I can see this plush green growing as I read your poem. And the title is perfect, what we all need now, Resilience.
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Thank you so much for taking the time to read and respond, Valerie!
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Oh, what a beautiful poem. Love it.
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Thank you so much, Donna!
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❤️❤️❤️❤️
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The mother-son bond through a pair of sonnets, then the bond your poem crafts with nature like moss spreading after its gift of rain; finally, the bond with us readers, bathing in the beauty of the musicality and imagery of your words. Much to love. A hope for you: Keep making the stony places glow. We need the glow amid our broken pavements.
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Your beautiful response to my poem is such a gift. Thank you.
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Thanks for this benediction, Jim.
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Yes! Moss. Perfect indeed.
And this lovely poem.
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Thank you so much for taking the time to read and respond to my work!
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Wonderful to read so strictly observed a sonnet that never sounds forced or obligatory. Delighted!
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Thank you for taking the time to read and respond! I love writing in form.
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A perfect poem.
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Well-said, Syd.
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brought back memories. The most important poem I ever read was trees by Joyce Kilmore. My third grade Teacher asked us to memorize the poem and then to write a poem based on that poem. I loved that poem. I loved everything about it. It probably affected me more than any other poem I’ve ever read. For the last 70 years I’ve been writing poems and not one of them is as good as trees. I’m gonna have to keep writing.
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I can fully relate to your experience and I’m so glad my poem reminded you of that formative moment.
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Yes, that poem by Kilmore was important to many of us as children.
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did you go to a Catholic school? Joyce Kilmer was very popular among the nuns in my school.
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No, I went to public schools in Houston, Texas.
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In my public schools in Houston we read Robert Frost for inspiration. It worked with me, on my side of Buffalo Bayou. Stopping by Woods on a Sweltering Evening?
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This sonnet brought me light! Thank you, Alison, Michael.
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I am so glad it brought you light, Friend. Your writing illuminates me, too!
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Thank you, Rose Mary!
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Such a beautiful sonnet. It’s all the more poignant when read together with today’s essay about immigrant children leading an uprising at a Texas Detention Center. Thank you, Michael, for bringing us knowledge and art and light.
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Michael is so good at curating and pairing content here. I’m honored to have my sonnet share space with that essay.
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Thanks for noticing the pairing, Christine. Some days the prose and the poetry speak to each other.
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I’ve noticed the often do to my delight
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So good to be blessed by this poem on a chill still snow-shrouded morning. Thanks to Alison, and to you, Michael, for the post.
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Thanks, Luray!
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And your response blesses the poet! Thank you for reading and responding.
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A beautiful and sweet sonnet, Alison. That plush!
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Isn’t she great?
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Thank you so much for taking the time to read and respond, poet friend!
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