TO PAULA IN LATE SPRING
Let me imagine that we will come again
when we want to and it will be spring
we will be no older than we ever were
the worn griefs will have eased like the early cloud
through which the morning slowly comes to itself
and the ancient defenses against the dead
will be done with and left to the dead at last
the light will be as it is now in the garden
that we have made here these years together
of our long evenings and astonishment
– W.S. Merwin, from his Pulitzer Prize-winning book The Shadow of Sirius (2009, Copper Canyon Press) and found in his latest collection, The Essential W.S. Merwin, edited by Michael Wiegers (2017, Copper Canyon Press). Used by permission of the publishers. Copyright © 2009 by W. S. Merwin.
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My tiny palm tree grown from seed from the Merwin conservancy now has three fronds. The whole process of nurturing this seed and now plant reminds me of the care and devotion Paula and W.S. Merwin have given to their extraordinary forest over the years—and a chance for me to say thank you. Mahalo ?
Augusta Vesecky