Today feels muggy, chest-pressing weary.
Burdened with news of a son’s impending
divorce, one daughter’s herniated disk, and
another’s breast cancer. My glance is drawn
to the lighted kitchen window, finds treetops
flailing in the wind of the coming storm,
humidity thick enough to slice with a knife.
How I’d like to strip away their pain and sorrows.
Eyes fall with resignation to the flurry
of flashing bits of cerise before me. I focus
on the little ornamental cherry tree swaying
in the sultry breeze, thin twigs loaded down
with bunches of hard green berries that catch
the filtered noon light, provision aplenty
for bleaker days to come, providing me
sudden solace in this opaque moment.
first published in Plainsongs Journal
also published in PICTURE HEALING Chapbook
©2006 Bonnie Manion