The rhetor avers, “Linked phrases run through the a’s, b’s, c’s so
on, but a-phrases, again, often point to the composition (the kind I am). 

As for b, my creativity 
is not wasted in remorse. 
What I owe: I know 
almost and almost lost, 
unfinished, in everything. For the c’s 
I moved along a scratchy plain 
of dandelions, peony, clover: 
checked for snags of fern, fir, 
and only you nodded: Oh yes — 
It’s always news: 

and I see your form 
as you fill in the questionnaire 
putting your back into it.”