Archetype
This is
the shape of tree:
a wind-gnarled cottonwood,
bare-branched, black against a Kansas
sunset.
the shape of tree:
a wind-gnarled cottonwood,
bare-branched, black against a Kansas
sunset.
Blooming In December
I almost crashed a wedding
this afternoon at the Clock Tower
by the farmer's market, blind
to my brush with intrusion
until the bride all in maroon
crushed velvet and white fur
walked from her car, stood
hidden from sight for a minute,
walked smiling up the steps
to her bearded dearly beloved
and a covenant made beside
the Mayor's Christmas Tree.
Where she'd waited, two small
climbing roses bloomed against
gray concrete, pink and cream
stragglers out of season,
petals no less captivating for
near-winter wear at their edges.
It says much for love, and for
roses, that both still flower
against the chill dictates
of time and the times.
this afternoon at the Clock Tower
by the farmer's market, blind
to my brush with intrusion
until the bride all in maroon
crushed velvet and white fur
walked from her car, stood
hidden from sight for a minute,
walked smiling up the steps
to her bearded dearly beloved
and a covenant made beside
the Mayor's Christmas Tree.
Where she'd waited, two small
climbing roses bloomed against
gray concrete, pink and cream
stragglers out of season,
petals no less captivating for
near-winter wear at their edges.
It says much for love, and for
roses, that both still flower
against the chill dictates
of time and the times.
|
Steve BrisendineSteve Brisendine – writer, poet, occasional artist, recovering journalist – lives and works in Mission, Kansas. His most recent collections are Salt Holds No Secret But This (Spartan Press, 2022) and To Dance with Cassiopeia and Die (Alien Buddha Press, 2022), a “collaboration” with his former pen name of Stephen Clay Dearborn. His work has appeared in Modern Haiku, Flint Hills Review, Connecticut River Review and other journals and anthologies. He holds no degrees, several longstanding grudges and any number of strong opinons.
Instagram: // @scribbles.n.shots |