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