Showy red sumac
set September aflame,
magnolia flaunts crème rose
in spring blossoming
The forest’s mighty pin oak
wears a great prickly halo,
verdant in June, but in autumn
glowing burnished gold
Small scrappy dogwood
boast in Easter season
the shape of Christ’s cross
in blood-tipped flowering
From woody bones of naked trees,
an immutable winter mystery,
bursts kaleidoscopic color,
au printemps diversity.
first published in The Oak
©2013 Bonnie Manion