Monday, February 9, 2009

buds



I'd swear we didn't see them until March last year
But here they are, unmistakable
A dark new pink like
First-fruits
This first weekend of February.

We are going out
The front door tonight,
Which is rare enough in itself
And carries a good omen in the still-bright dusk
Of a still winter evening.

I stop short and my breath
Catches in my throat, holds there
He follows my eyes,
"I guess that tree is not dead after all,"
He says.

We should have trimmed it last Spring
We should have cut it down last Summer
When it disowned its limbs, littering
Broken bark and lichen
And bits of moss.

Just last week I thought it might fall down
Altogether.

And now
It is February. It is cold.
It may yet snow.

But tonight I see the tiniest buds of cherry blossoms on a tree that was dead to me.

3 comments:

Sabrina said...

Funny...we have a plum tree in our front yard that was "bored to death" two years ago (beetles)...I can't bear to cut it down...

Unknown said...

My favorite part was when you were talking about the moss and how great it is.

Haley said...

ha. :)