Ordinary Joys

All afternoon -
We worked in the garden
While the tulip petals fell
Beneath the crabapple snow
In that corner by the red rose-tree
Where the iris never bloom - not ever.

In the yard -
Iron dragonflies
Protect their plans behind iron eyes,
While wooly thyme waits breathlessly
To be trodden, to endow the idle air
With nostalgia and myrrh.

Across the field -
The old apple trees
Gossip of bees, humming old melodies
In their petticoats of pink and white
Never minding the words are long forgotten.

I want to remember -
Those songs; this afternoon;
These ordinary joys – that pour over me
Drenching my eyes, filling my shoes
With the waltzes of home
Where the dancers may change
But the tune endures.


(italicized words from a poem by Peter Pereira)



                                     K.A.Wood
                                     May Day, 2006