The Epiphany

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.