May Day Baskets
Not as many May first flowers here—
Not as many kind words and smiles—
as times and places I lived as a child.
Then, roses burst, clambered, and climbed already,
enough garden posies to revel in—make chains
for garlands and necklaces, plenty to fill
baskets to take and surprise the neighbors.
Now I could fill baskets with a few dandelions,
chokecherry and crab apple blossoms.
Or I can let my cup overflow with gracious responses,
pick loving words to give as lavish surprises.
~Catherine Lawton
(This poem is excerpted from Glimpsing Glory : Poems of Living & Dying, Praying & Playing, Belonging & Longing
My earlier poems are published in Remembering Softly: A Life in Poems,.)
Photo by Enis Yavuz on Unsplash