"Black Cherries" by W.S. Merwin

[Eva Libre]

 

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.

— W.S. Merwin, from his latest book Garden Time (Copper Canyon Press, 2016). Copyright ©
Art by Ed Sandoval