Indomitable

Indomitable

Where the tarred scar
of an amputated limb,
like jet-black jade,
is embedded in beaded bark:
Where the two ends
of dark barberry shoot pale
from the clipped hedgerow
stripling straight:
There is the will to survive,
startled by threatened extinction,
leaping in sudden strength,
Like Rafe, who jumped the six-foot fence
the day the bull chased him.

Rafael Tilton
Rochester, MN, USA
Catholic Relief Seviices