To a Cymbidium Orchid Blooming on December 25th

View PDF

You must have burst surprised 
thrusting up your single spear 
so soon past All 
Hallow’s-Eve 

to break your segment buds in 
nearly cruciform display 
only to discover 
Easter 

far asquint beyond 
pale west-borne suns—& with it 
warmth and nighttime 
wealth-

scented air breathed from peach 
and pear and apricot. No, now 
alone you raise a 
Christmas 

star in subtle violets above 
rough beds of redwood 
bark and 
waive 

all rights to springtime’s 
soft ascent—accept 
the harsh descent 
of life 

implicit-cradling death. And so 
you raise your lonely sheath 
and bloom a single five-point 
Star.