Primroses
Thrum-eyed or pin-eyed? We look and decide,
kneeling together at these first primroses.
Gently, we tilt their moon-pale flowers,
peer down the cool tubes of their corollas,
considering. As we talk, I revise for myself
this Greek litany: calyx, style, stigma, stamen,
anthers. We stroke the flower stalks, downy
and pink. I think of my mother: her hedge,
too, was starred with periwinkles. Violets
and celandines, then wild garlic, spread
in its shade. Here, primroses, impossibly strong,
nest among blades of grass; set off the roughness
of stones; rest on moss. Soft. We are satisfied,
and walk away. Last year’s beech leaves, dried
and percussive, rattle in the wind, forecasting rain.
Next week, thirsty for the falls of yellow flowers
pouring down beside stone steps, we’ll go back.
Be stopped in our tracks. We’ll read the sign:
This Wood is Closed until Further Notice.
Page(s) 60
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