The darling buds

Surviving all that winter can command,
The new cherry blossom bursts
Into breathtaking maturity.
Like a beautiful girl
Achieving nubility over night
And bursting and blushing into
A sunny May morning.

Always, at this very juncture,
A rude wind
Of Shakespearean design
Shatters the darling buds
Into pink debris
Inches deep around the base.

Caught by the dying wind
Now departing shamefacedly,
Some of the petals run towards me
Like children seeking love,
And awakening the annual reminder
That the good and the beautiful
Often die young.

^

Biography

BRIAN WYNNE ( Ex-Liverpool schoolteacher now living in Ireland and member of Kinvara Writers' Group run by Fred Johnston, Brian Wynne's work has been published in The Galway Advertiser 'Markings' page, his reviews in 'Bookview,' and his poems in The Kinvara Writers' Anthology.)