The Garden in April
Nature shows that survival is a practice
Wintering by Katherine May
This spring: fits and starts. The joy of the first field
of crocus, white candytuft on dried lawn glows
like a beacon. A hint of green, a smatter of tiny buds.
Too early, I lament. Like a merry-go-round coming back
to the brass ring: a reset—one night of cold wind,
freezing rain and nature cycles back. Pears, magnolias
go brown. Winter triumphant again. But new growth,
unstoppable. Warm sun and cool nights toughen.
I watch the garden’s teaching as I move through surgery
and slow recovery. Now Japanese maple’s red leaves form
a scrim pattern in front of the weeping cherry, still bright
with blossoms. Six days past surgery I wake to lazy
snowflakes drifting earthward. Another reset.
The garden’s promise spurs me on.
Ginger Graziano, originally from New York City, is a author, painter and graphic designer living in Asheville, North Carolina where she receives inspiration from the mountain beauty. Her poems have been published in The American Journal of Poetry, Kakalak, Sky Island Journal, The Great Smokies Review, among others. Her memoir, See, There He Is, was published in 2015. http://www.gingergraziano.com/writing.
Amethyst Review 