Black Cherries by W. S. Merwin

[conuly]

Late in May as the light lengthens
toward summer the young goldfinches
flutter down through the day for the first time
to find themselves among fallen petals
cradling their day's colors in the day's shadows
of the garden beside the old house
after a cold spring with no rain
not a sound comes from the empty village
as I stand eating the black cherries
from the loaded branches above me
saying to myself Remember this

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Comments

[greenwoodside]

Thank you for sharing. The wild cherries are still small and green in the Welsh marches.

Apart from enjoying the poem in itself, I really liked trying to find out where birds fledge when black cherries are ripe. (Answer, based on Merwin's biography: Maui).

And then trying to figure out what sort cherry tree would be happy in Maui, probably near the poem's North Shore home... In a cooler alternative life, I am now arranging a flight to go seek for answers in person!

[conuly]

This is the sort of comment I live for, thanks :)

[moon_custafer]

Thanks, I was wondering about that too. The cherries here are bloom in May.

[greenwoodside]

March and April here --- now the cherry blossom is gone, and we're nearly at foxglove season while early roses have been spotted in flower.

I'd miss the spring in a northern climate, but I'm sure I could learn to delight in a tropical garden, as W.S. Merwin apparently did...

[conuly]

The cherry trees down the block just dropped their blossoms a week or two ago.