Forsythia

Flowering Light

like the sun
forsythia an orb of light
rising from the April lawn

more cherished for
winter’s long wait
spring’s hospitality of abundance

one of the first to arrive
forsythia’s hostess gift
the light of a flowering sun

forsythia in bloom
throwing open
the proverbial garden gate

a clapboard background to
the enduring rite of spring
sunshine as forsythia

each branch
a beam of light
forsythia on a cloudy day

he stops by
to encourage
the first blooms

in a tangle
of dead wood and time
an undaunted greening and flowering

stalled by a cold snap
the red rake
by the arbor waits

forsythia’s petal rays
in sunburst bloom
warm the landscape

forsythia entwined
among the limbs
of her beloved

Forsythia fleetingly adorns
ever enduring granite.

Before the sky is reliably blue
before the fields have greened
forsythia champions Spring.