my heart swells as if

if it will burst from

my chest, spiraling

upward in the flawless

blue sky where it

will get a bird’s eye

view of the dazzling

redbud and cottony

Bradford pear, the

tiny green puffs on

budding tree limbs,

and the mighty James

as it journeys eastward.

Then it will flutter

down to peek at the 

petite grape hyacinths, 

tulips and daffodils,

the violets hiding in 

grass, and the hot pink 

flocks spilling down

the hill, all the while

accompanied by the

Carolina wren warbling

its “pretty, pretty, pretty.”

On this planet

people

are destroying

each 

other

as well as the 

earth and yet,

and yet,

there is still

such beauty 

and we must

relish it

while there

is time.