Nature's first green is gold, Her hardest hue to hold,
Her early leafs a flower, But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf, So Eden sank to grief.
So dawn goes down to day. Nothing gold can stay. (Frost)
Ron Rash's short story collection pays homage to Frost's alluring & melancholy poem. The stories all share a theme of loss, solitude and forewarning. Heed one own's instinctive "alarm bell." Know that "luck is due to run out." Do not give into temptation, lest you pay dearly for you choices. Rash's stories speak of the loss of innocence, "fighting the Japanes in WWI you weren't even a man anymore. It's a wonder any of us could come back & be human again." The stories also smite those who judge. Judge not lest ye be judged. Collectively, they evoke a remoteness of an older era. All the stories are poignant & poetic. I was most moved with the story of 2 black runaway slaves. A Confederate farmer entraps the 2 men. The younger knew to flee but was lured back. The older slave is allowed to escape after he binds the young runaway who was left behind to face the noose. The stories in NOTHING GOLD CAN STAY are etched with sorrow in realms of gold.
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