Featured Poem: All That Blossoms

By Virginia Nygard      
Vero Beach Branch

 

Mom and I pause this April day to rest in the park

where the flag on the pole flies free

and tulips in hues of ripe cherries

sweet oranges and sunshine

carpet the earth below.

 

Heavy with age at this early date

some bow limp and low to the ground

signaling that even spring heralds

will soon surrender to slumber

as other shoots peek from the soil.

 

The arms of the arbor display disparate ends of life.

A youthful flowering plum scribbled full

with fragrant blossoms white and sweet

shades our line of sight to the opposite end

where an ancient dogwood fails to bud.

 

Beneath the pompous plum’s

glorious gleaming array

I sit on a cold iron bench

beside Mom warm in her wrap

but frail and wheelchair bound.

We sense the contrast that surrounds us

and she surprises me with a crystal-clear observation

as keen to the point as a newly honed blade

 

“That tree struggles to live,” says she

not realizing that in her I see reflected

the ragged dogwood’s joust with death

the shriveling and shedding

of fond memories long held in mind

of precious petals of her time

until the hourglass drains.

 

As we leave

snowy petals float free

showering us like teardrops

as though trees also know the fate

of all that blossoms.

12 comments

  1. Andrea Walker says:

    The delicate and beautiful imagery reflects the frail beauty of age and the struggle of life and death. A lovely and poignant poem.

  2. Karen Morris says:

    Perfect word choice and graceful flow delicately capture a heavy truth. Very fine poem, Virginia.

  3. Audrey McHugh says:

    Life and death metaphors are all around us, We just have to take the time to notice
    and be touched by them .I was. Thank you.

  4. Thanks for sharing this poem. I especially liked the opening verses. And although in its entirety, it did capture mood reflected in the author’s observation, which also reflected time and passing, the opening verses (particularly paragraphs 1&2) echoes a sweetness and sentiment that I could understand relate to. The comparison of the “tree struggling to live” and the author’s observations of her mother dealing with a handicap and perhaps declining health, was striking also, especially with as she said the “contrasting” surrounding. Over all, very good use of metaphors and story telling.

    Hope NLAPW will continue to share poems like this with me.

    Shirley Davis

  5. Oh my, so incredibly poignant Virginia. Absolutely beautiful and stirs so many emotions. I’m in that season with my Mother so your poem touched me deeply. Thank you for sharing!

  6. Patricia R Setser says:

    Wow! What a fabulous poem. As an artist, I see pictures with each line.
    Thank you for writing such an insightful and truthful poem.

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