After all those years in the rainforest
discovering there was a carpet of plant weavings under the soil
inches deep
connecting everything
I thought I understood the secret life of plants
After the pandemic pause including two summers in the high desert scrub
juniper and piñon
twisted amidst thorny cacti
more than anything the trees called out to me
Here close to the river there are cottonwoods that glisten
long armed branch of ash and elm
pistache red as autumn lipstick
in their season
for me, it became cherry and oak
Montmorency for the pies
aspen grove by the sidewalk
surprising purple flowers of desert willow
I prepared for the trees by reading
seeing their pictures
I visited them in the arboretums
and still I had no idea
of the flowers of the oak tree
or even of the tiny tender new leaves of the aspen
My appreciation for spring had to do with the color chartreuse
unfurling of giant fern fronds
appearance of daffodils above the ground
swollen streams
Behind the house a pair of doves
have adopted us
they come around when I am outside
the dog watches them silently
Even in town
seemingly defined by asphalt and concrete
we live in the embrace of all living things
#NaPoWriMo
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