POEM: “Each fresh sweet shade a shooting star”

May 4, 2026

By David Jolly

And Yet

Nature’s first green is gold,

this we have been told

by Mr. Frost who pitched his story

but only catalogued one glory

of trees’ rebirthing hues.

Birch and beech leaf chartreuse,

maple flowers dusky rose,

ash buds seem black when seen afar 

but deep maroon limned lime up close.

Each fresh sweet shade a shooting star

in heavens radiantly vernal,

fleeting yes – and yet, it’s clear,

spring hopes eternal.

— Jolly is a poet based in Penobscot. Jolly’s poem is inspired by ‘Nothing Gold Can Stay,’ a 1923 poem by Robert Frost

The Rising Tide welcomes poems and other artistic endeavors from our community, and showcases them here in our “Create” section. If you have something you’d like to submit—a poem, a picture of a painting, a photograph, a music recording—send it to info@risingtide.media. We’d love to publish it and give you an audience for your creativity.