we thought we'd lost you
mind dormant underground
rare perennial

the chrysalis breaks
bed-bound butterfly
how long was I gone?

sun-starved dandelion
closed, opened, gone to seed
do not blow away

stale hospital bed
small mirror to a window
spring held, trembling

lifting cornsilk strands
I'm back in the hospital
brushing hair from your eyes

sunny marigold
opened my smile's brightness
now lies withering

if I wrote all night
to craft the perfect the poem
still you would be gone

pressed down by loss
your unexpected trill
lifter of my head

fingering moist soil
burying smooth seeds
briefly I forget

and these the same stars
between willow leaves
that you used to see

to sunny, from the train

lollipop trees
surround passing houses
holding me as well

setting sun
her life continues its
soft salmon glow

blush of drifting clouds
slate blue fingers reach through glass
gesturing goodbye

wisteria weeps
her predictable passage
back into the earth

dogwood blossoms
consider the clouds
sky meditation

dogwood blossoms
their pale upturned faces
freshly washed by rain

jealously I note
my sentry oak has sprouted -
flashbacks of youth

moon-bleached clouds
night-stained trees at once
I am in balance

then you handed me
the perfect dandelion
pollen on my cheek

lettuces poke up
red and green rabbit ears
nature's little joke

evening's cool sigh
suddenly fills me
with lilacs

clouds hemorrhage
and all I see is new green
in my mind

dance of the leaflets -
delicate fingers
caressing the wind

low light through stale blooms
like an old string of pearls
still lustrous

puddle-slogging clogs
startled coos
the flutter of wings

this teasing sunlight
in and out it moves, as if
the sky were breathing

respite from the storm:
(charcoal clouds regathering)
cardinal sun spark

and when I returned
spring lay all about your feet
like a pink shadow

what a year can do -
moths flutter from the pantry
snatched by small proud hands