Sunrise

Sunrise
Sunrise on Sunset Beach

Friday, April 10, 2015

A Springtime Apparition

Clayton, North Carolina
April 10, 2010; revised March 29, 2015

By the barely greening side yard pecan,
crepe myrtle and magnolia grace
the Southern small-town spring.

Paradise is a pool of cool air infused
with essence of mown grass
and the scent of sweet Carolina jessamine,

where a mockingbird-freight train duet
weaves the Sunday morning sermon
as an old dog ambles to the edge

of his chain-link fence. Sensing
stranger, he barks without conviction.
From the unseen center, church

bells carry hymns of hope to
whoever wanders
a fresh apparition of Eden.

Carolina jessamine, "Gelsemium sempervirens3"
by KENPEI. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
via Wikimedia Commons