Magnolia

Magnolia

The magnolia is a wonderful tree,
A broad species, fabulous in flower ;
Profuse in blossoms, pungent sweet in scent,
Majestically crowning spring's new life.

Star and saucer adorn our home landscape
With early blooms, one chalk white, one hot pink.
Unfolding pedals in uncommon ways;
Last buds born - first to adorn - with beauty.

By tip elongation cells stretch sunward,
By circumferential push limbs plump:
Nature dictates how vegetation grows
Upward and outward to its potential.

Silhouette of first bloom, flowers unfold
Painting a globe on the arc of heaven.
Colorful splashes early, a few days
Full, until thunder brings the rage of rain.

Each year's growth expands the crown of flowers,
While good Earth helps sleeping spring bulbs emerge,
Quickly bringing more color to drab land.
Trees, bulbs, and plants draw life from down under.

Snowing down ends flowery abundance
Aloft. Now color's crown is on the ground.
Green emerges to produce vital juice,
The energy of vegetative growth.

A moment in the Universe, a pause
To capture in color, a brief respite.
Life's mere moments with colorful pigments
Keeps our lives from being dull, if not, dead.

Ronald C. Downie