Ready

Spring is pale here,

and though the weather swings

from cold to warm to cold,

the buds have ventured out,

as startling as katydids —

the revealed preparation

of all those tiny leaves

lined up,

now throwing off

their hard, sleek, sheathes,

ready to expand

with a rapidity

that’s almost alarming —

all those precise pleats and points

starting to unfold,

ready to fill the tree,

tender but unstoppable

like millennials

stretching out

into their lives.

©Wendy Mulhern

May 12, 2014

Photo by Heather Mulhern