Some A Wild Rose / Joshua Alan Sturgill
Here’s a story no one tells you:
From the dry soil of some out-of-the-way, unnoticed place
a boy grows up without depending on a computer — instead
full of his father’s father’s memories.
Secretly (because no one clicks the link to see)
he saves the world
by giving deference to a wildflower.
We must recount the story in a poem
because the news blasts itself
in rhythms divorced from words
using special scientific lights designed to catch your eyes
while dampening your concentration.
Was it yesterday, after offering his prayers
and making coffee for his wife, the hero
walks quietly through the electronics recycling yard
his city has become
— each old camera busily recording him
just in case
and each screen compulsively spilling information —
past the credit unions and the hospitals,
on his way
to where the small, universally saving gesture will occur.
Some say it was a milkweed,
some a wild rose
All poetry and supplementary material: copyright 2026 by Joshua Alan Sturgill. All rights reserved.
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