(after William Carlos Williams)
Once each year
the plainest of plants,
barren of any remarkable
second glance, prepares
its timely transformation
from what appears
possibly dead appendages.
Tiny buds along green edges
begin their growth
without a hint
of what’s waiting
in hidden roots, Spring’s
elixir does Her magic
as no one watches
Her annual wand
wave above its limbs.
Preparation and exhalation,
a one-of-a-kind show.
A pregnant swelling
in every bud whispers
thank you to Spring,
doubling in size
almost daily, its secret
safe within unopened buds.
Is it white moonlight
that calls out the colors?
For all those months
of unremembered delights
are forgotten
the first moment
a blossom opens
and spills its secrets
in such unexpected
profusion, an ecstasy
of nameless beauties,
as those who see them
open are transformed.
***