The ‘Bloodgood’ Japanese maple, a rich rust
overflows the red brick wall. The raspberry splash
of chimensis ‘visions’ is bursting. ‘Polar Joy’
roses run rampant up the wall. Geranium ‘rozanne’
barely contained, blue flowers spilling
onto the walkway. A burning bush spreading
near the back wall. And much more in this small
piece of land that is ours. No more the barren
patches of winter. How long I have waited
for this moment. My heart, frozen, like an Arctic
tundra, is growing wild as it races
to see you each morning, taking our coffee
before the TV to learn of today’s
headlines, shaking our heads: children
separated from parents, wildfires, floods.
Beside me, you calm the outer and inner
terrain. You pat my hair, the curls grown wild
from last night’s sleep. My heart grows wild
from this happiness
Paula Goldman’s book, The Great Canopy, won the Gival Press Poetry award, and was honorable mention for the Independent Booksellers’ Award. Her work has appeared in The Ravens Perch, Passager, Visions International, Rattle, Across the Margin, Slant, Briar Cliff Review, Calyx, , Ekphrasis, Prairie Schooner, and Manhattanville Review among others.
