A friend invited me to pick some tulips from her garden. Each blossom we snipped inspired and reinforced our friendship and the appreciation of the moment of may flowers. Each leaf, every shadow even the roots pushing against the earth became apparent as if each movement was part of a greater sense of balance. Each flower belongs to itself but her inspiration that got the bulbs planted in the fall and then her gift of spring stems reminds me of how our lives support each other.
Shaking the Tree
Vine and branch we're connected in this world
of sound and echo, figure and shadow, the leaves
contingent, roots pushing against earth. An apple
belongs to itself, to stem and tree, to air
that claims it, then ground. Connections
balance, each motion changes another. Precarious,
hanging together, we don't know what our lives
support, and we touch in the least shift of breathing.
Each holy thing is borrowed. Everything depends.
-Jeanne Lohmann
Shaking the Tree
Vine and branch we're connected in this world
of sound and echo, figure and shadow, the leaves
contingent, roots pushing against earth. An apple
belongs to itself, to stem and tree, to air
that claims it, then ground. Connections
balance, each motion changes another. Precarious,
hanging together, we don't know what our lives
support, and we touch in the least shift of breathing.
Each holy thing is borrowed. Everything depends.
-Jeanne Lohmann