Who has not felt the fleeting sorrow for living things that are wiped out or destroyed in the name of progress (however necessary)?
VIOLETS by Mary Oliver
Down by the rumbling creek and the tall trees— where I went truant from school three days a week and therefore broke the record—
there were violets as easy in their lives as anything you have ever seen or leaned down to intake the sweet breath of.
Later, when the necessary houses were built they were gone, and who would give significance to their absence.
Oh, violets, you did signify, and what shall take your place?
(from Devotions--Penguin Publishing Group)
