Lenten Signs

Here in the city
where impassive pavements
light no signals for seasons,
fingers of woodland
point to the river.

Mottled ivy
wipes off winter dust,
burns greener: a thorn tree
is beginning to sweat
white tears.

Gnarled japonica
bursts into globules of blood,
beading leafless bones;
sunshots dazzle
through crossed boughs

of park lopped trees
and tearing nails of briars.
Robins extemporise
red warnings
of outrageous spring.

Joyce Wildom-Searle

Lent has begun.  The Garners are reading a Psalm before each meal, starting today with Psalm 1 with breakfast, Psalm 51 with lunch, and Psalm 101 with dinner.  This way we’ll progress through the Psalms in approximately a month, feeding our souls as we feed our bodies.