HOW THE BLOSSOMS ARE FALLING

The fruit takes from the sun,
the skin swells thin green,
swells to red,
swells to ripeness,
until the time for giving,
when the wind thuds and seeds the earth;
and the rich brown soil receives the flight down.

and to walk at that moment in the orchard again,
when the children are still small;
and to see in the sunlight
how the blossoms are falling.

poem by Joy Kogawa