Magic Carpets

Spring has always been my favorite season. The reasons are legion: longer days and abundant sunshine, the earth returning to life, countless shades of green, fruit trees dressed in stunning blossoms of pinks and reds and whites, lilac bushes heavy with perfume and purple, even the perky/pesky dandelions scattered across playing fields loud with sporting exuberance.

Then there is this year. Recurrent leaden skies and almost daily rains have been the recent norm, and they do nothing to promote the joie de vivre usually found in abundance come April and May. On the other hand, the forecast calls for sunny days ahead and a jacket-free week, starting today. Something I must take on faith given the disappointing cloud cover from horizon to horizon present this morning. But what is spring, if not a time of hope?



Magic Carpets


The elusive rug maker
is showcasing
his wares this week:

cherry blossoms
grounded after April's party,
a Persian covering

apple tree petals
fallen like a picnic blanket,
steadied by morning's dew

and if you're early enough

a saffron runner of seeds thrown
over cars parked street-side,
edges sunning the cement.

I blink and they take to the sky.



Marilyn Aschoff Mellor