There are a lot of brilliant turns of phrase here, but how about "The roses now are molting into thistles" and "What / wilderness can witness peace?"
ReckoningThe very last poem from IT WAS PARADISE, our special issue on environmental justice in war and conflict edited by @soniasulaiman.bsky.social, is "Nature Knows A Little About Blooming" by Prosper C. Ìféányí. We always like to end on a high note: reckoning.press/nature-knows...