“Anxiety is the handmaiden of creativity," wrote T.S. Eliot. To help make productive use of our self-isolation and social distancing, Lit Cleveland is offering free writing challenges each week via our newsletter. The following piece is a response to the "Nature in Words and Images" prompt.

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The Wild Dares

by Deborahelaine Miller

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Spring seems reluctant
Uncertain now
It shows up timidly on stingy buds
Tiny sad color too tight to bloom
When snow shuts its mouth
It cowers under white glare
Birds taunt like boys daring
Still, it shivers in a black frost
Blanketing the eyes of Easter
Only the wild dandelion braves the dead