by Sally Nacker

Wild Phlox
for Edwin and Nellie Teale, Trail Wood

Phlox line the south side of the country lane
to the Teale house. They appear mid-August
and minister, with a certain zeal, in their purpleness.
Out of such globes of color, the five-petaled
blossoms preach a goodness and a fragrant
prayer. They ignite the air, and astonish,
congregate to greet me as I drive up,
and I feel so keenly my brief and only life.
***

 

Japanese Brush Painting

Looking at it from indoors,
the sticks from the window improve the tree.
That is what art does.
—Robert Frost to Robert Francis, 1950

The window makes art
of his magnolia tree —
the man thinks quietly— at the start
of spring. Especially

now, the way morning light
shifts — in falling snow —
over new white
blossoms on each long bough.

 

Image by PommeGrenade from Pixabay