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 

The Girl's Guava Tree

- and the good earth sustains
With thanks to the El Rural Centro Metodista.
Mirador, Costa Rica
March 10, 2010; revised March 30, 2015

Beyond the gravel-pocked streets
lined with cinder-block shops

and child-packed homes
capped with corrugated tin

christened in the sweat of strangers
called from a far land

past the worn-out weed field
trampled by children to dusty flat

where rough tracks fork left
below fenced hills of cane and cattle

down, down the rutted path
to the rushing boulder stream

where a nimble girl parts barbed wire
and clambers up the guava tree

through distant light she smiles
and shares


Other poems from Costa Rica:

• Jessica's Blessing
• The Night Music of San Rafael de Guatuso 
• A Friday Morning Devotional in Iglesia Evangelica Metodista