Seven Ways of Looking at a Dogwood

Poetry

A nod to Wallace Stevens, a bow to Basho

Dogwoods turn fecund,

succumb one to another.

Black boughs birthing blooms.

Onward Christian trees.

Eastertime’s righteous branches

blister with crosses.

Kentucky dogwoods

burst into unbearable

brilliance and being.

A photographer

ponders pink and white blossoms

on a single tree.

Do the Japanese

worship flowering dogwoods

like cherry blossoms?

Quick and unfaithful

to us, we suffer April’s

swift indulgence.

Flowers fade and plunge

into mud, so done, never

promising too much

Angela Allen

Feb. 2009

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