The Best of It

However carved up
or pared down we get
we keep on making
the best of it as though
it doesn't matter that
our acre's down to a square foot. As
though our garden
could be one bean
and we'd rejoice if
it flourishes, as
though one bean
could nourish us.

--Kay Ryan (1945- ), US poet laureate 2008-2009



Photo: Detail of Walter Ufer's Hunger.