Phloem and xylem and cambium
It has been a long and difficult winter
With many punishing storms
And the trees in the marsh
Are tired of it.
They can’t wait for their branches
To sprout the buds
That will bring relief
With flower and leaf.
But it is seeming to take forever
And the bare trees are growing bored
And restless
So they occupy themselves,
As they do every not-quite-spring-yet,
With singing lessons
Provided gratis
By the red-wing blackbirds
That perch on their branches
And the reeds and cattails
In the nearby pond,
And who welcome any opportunity
To belt out their jubilant anthems.
The trees are good students
Quietly repeating each note,
Each change of pitch,
Each trill, each syncopation, each exquisite pause,
Until they have memorized every last blackbird tune
Which they then sing quietly to themselves
All night long
Until the day arrives
When they feel the tingle and shimmer
That accompany the first sproutings in their limbs
And from that moment on
They are so utterly preoccupied
With the ancient imperative of rebirth
That they forget entirely
About reproducing the melodies
Their blackbird cousins have taught them
And begin to sing, instead,
Their own silent doxologies in praise
Of capillary action and photosynthesis,
Of phloem and xylem and cambium,
Of branch and flower and leaf,
Of all the new life
That is bursting into being
From deep within them.
The snow geese of memory
When the snow geese of memory
Come to rest in my marsh
I will name each one of them Winter
And scatter the grains of my days
On all my harvested ground
So that they need not fly away
To feed in warmer climes
But might remain nearby
Gleaning my stubble fields
And comforting me
With their twilight conversations
As they bob upon the chilly waters
While night makes its quiet way
Among brambles and stars.
Buff Whitman-Bradley’s poetry has been published widely in print and online journals. His latest book is “And What Will We Sing?” from Kelsay Books. Forthcoming from Finishing Line Press is “A Friendly Little Tavern Somewhere Near the Pleiades.” He podcasts at thirdactpoems.podbean.com and lives in northern California with his wife, Cynthia.
Pegasus 