Day 25 of #the100dayproject

Color in Winter

Red dress, streak of rain,
late winter incantation,
a bare branch maple, silhouette
memory of red, sap, and green.

The cherry blossoms haven’t come.
But there, a woman walking in the grass,
her dress like lipstick red tulips,
each fold of fabric, a petal.

Tulips once drove a country into madness.
In such a dun-colored place,
color can create a hunger for summer,
for the hot sun, respite from the heart of cold.

The woman turns, flourishes her dress,
half gone, it flashes like traffic lights
on wet pavement, stretching
into darkness at midnight.

If only the red could heat the earth,
force the cherries into bloom,
help the crocuses to push up
their spots of color, their docile heads.