A Suddenly Beautiful Sorrow
Near Broadway, the Waterfront Park,
Newburgh, New York 2013
I wandered on the waterfront
Where cherry blossoms grow
And took some petals
Into mind,
And then,
I let them go
They were so pink
That God seemed vain
And naked to my eye -
Yet I was gathered in His grace,
As they began to fly
And as their beauty rose above
My wonder far below,
They burst into soft rings of light
That set the scene aglow
The blossoms flew in ways their own,
Then on the river fell, like teardrops
From a mother’s eyes
When children perish well.