In the Fall sunshine the whole world was glowing
And before her now the digger was going,
But she must answer at the end of the row.
Which word should she say to him, "yes" or "no"?

She hadn't even known the way he'd asked her
If 'twas herself or "it" that he was after.
But no one else had asked. It was her first chance,
And she'd been one who'd often sat out a dance.

Others around her were picking spuds like crazy.
She snapped off the head of an ox-eyed daisy
And pulled off its petals, counting one by one
Till they were gone and deciding was done.

A small thing it was that could come anyhow,
But an answer would end suspense. Why not now?
"No" for an odd number; if even, say "yes"
An outside verdict, not an inside guess.

At the row's end, coolly her answer was given.
The result for both was not hell nor heaven.
It made her wonder as the years dragged along
Why deliberately she'd counted wrong.

Other Borealis Press titles by Fred Cogswell:

Recently awarded the Alden Nowlan Award for excellence in English-language literature by the New Brunswick Legislative Assembly, Fred Cogswell is widely known as once editor of The Fiddlehead and publisher of Fiddlehead Poetry Books, as a leading Canadian Poet and critic, and as a translator, including The Complete Poems of Emile Nelligan. His own poetry has been much published and translated abroad.