From the Wood of a Flowering Tree

She bursts forth in colors, inspiring

purples, pinks, yellows in hues

and flowers, petal-soft, open

in their own inimitable time

before the ripening juicy sweetness

of fruits hang heavy then thud drop

or are plucked greedily off the branch

and long before abandoned fruits fall

apart, wormed and disintegrating,

skin split and seeds spread to their

windy flight and earthy home-

coming and the long hibernating

journey through the cold dark of winter.

The journey to Spring is fraught

with all the possibilities of new life.