The other day
In the heart of Queens
I came across
The strangest scene
Mid-December
Midway down the block
A cherry tree stood
In full bloom
Around it buzzed
A dozen wasps
Resurrected from
Their winter slumber
A chill wind blew
The petals fluttered
Spring thus come in winter
Being both ill omen
And strange wonder
*************
This morning I read an A.R. Ammons called Winter Scene that had been posted to Twitter. "There is now not a single/leaf on the cherry tree" - as the poem begins. (You can read the full Ammons' poem here: https://allpoetry.com/poem/14370666-Winter-Scene-by-A.R.-Ammons.)
It immediately brought to mind this strange sight I came across last weekend when I went into the City to visit my kids. I have no idea how such a thing happens. One more sign of our planetary crisis or maybe just a tree recently transplanted from a greenhouse where it had been force-fed some Monsanto growth compound. As Paul Simon wrote, these are the days of miracle and wonder, except now there is a decided presentiment of time being broken and perhaps beyond repair.
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