Outside the youth center, between the liquor storeand the police station, a little dogwood tree is losing its mind;overflowing with blossomfoam, like a sudsy mug of beer;like a bride ripping off her clothes, dropping snow white petals to the ground in clouds, so Nature’s wastefulness seems quietly obscene. It’s been doing that all week:making beauty, and throwing it away, and making more. Tony Hoagland
About This Quote

One of the saddest things that we can see is a beautiful flower. A beautiful flower is always full of life and joy, but it will turn into a pile of mush as soon as it is picked. There are many ways to describe this: it’s as if the petals are still there, but the blossom has been ripped off. We can see that the beauty has been wasted. The poem says that nature’s wastefulness seems “quietly obscene.” Nature is something we should be rejoicing in, and it makes us sad when we do not take the time to appreciate nature and its gifts.

Source: What Narcissism Means To Me

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More Quotes By Tony Hoagland
  1. Outside the youth center, between the liquor storeand the police station, a little dogwood tree is losing its mind;overflowing with blossomfoam, like a sudsy mug of beer;like a bride ripping off her clothes, dropping snow white petals to the ground in clouds, so Nature’s wastefulness...
  2. The glory of the protagonist is always paid for by a lot of secondary characters
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