Along a Walk There Was a Bush in Bloom

Along a walk there was a bush in bloom—
This flowering, the second of the year.
The color brightened nature’s sunny room—
Plus me!—as summer’s cloak I also wear.
Some say to be reborn one has to die,
But here in summer’s robust strength and green
Appear new blooms held up against a sky;
My mid-life body sees this flourishing,
And thinks, Perhaps for change one need not die—
Instead one finds a good way to restart:
Sincerely will I grow beneath that sky
With my resources of the mind and heart,
And with a prayer, begin myself again
And bloom within a summer mind of green.

written August 1, 2025