Filigrees of rosy purple reach out
on slender arms of redbud
below the lettuce-and-grass-green heads
of newly-leafed trees.
Now my drive on pocked pavement,
huddled in with too many cars
and too much exhaust, is graced
with a quickly-passing revelation
of startling new life.
I never quite remember
to look and look, take heart
and watch the fleet hours
of jonquils, violets, lilies,
purple iris and daffodil.
It is the only time we can
breathe swift spring.

—

Carol Hamilton has published 17 books: children’s novels, legends and poetry, most recently, SUCH DEATHS from Virtual Arts Cooperative Press Purple Flag Series. She is a former Poet Laureate of Oklahoma and has been nominated seven times for a Pushcart Prize.