The Shelter Series: Eleanor Wilner

 

Cold and rain today–the weight of the wet and insistence of the wind have begun to bring down the petals from the pear tree blossoming outside my study window, our urban taste of spring.  Watching  the petals confetti the pavement, what came to mind are these lines of Tony Hoagland that have stayed with me for years: “a little dogwood tree is losing its mind; //overflowing with blossomfoam/like a sudsy mug of beer,/like a bride ripping off her clothes, //dropping snow white petals to the ground in clouds,//so Nature’s wastefulness seems quietly obscene./ It’s been doing that all week:/ making beauty,/ and throwing it away,/ and making more.”

 [From “A Color of the Sky” in What Narcissism Means To Me (Graywolf Press, 2003)]