Joanne Monte
An Early Introduction
Every year the magnolia tree
would bloom in the yard just outside my window,
its branches stretching out like the years ahead,
yet to be lived, its sweet blossoms as light as the spirit.
No need to have imagined it decades ago
in the future tense, fuller and more promising
than anything that it could later match.
How often had I been able to see through to the sun
holding in its rays the small bouquet
of flowers, the leaves innocently fingered by the light?
And yet, the mind conceives more vibrant colors—
this by way of an early introduction;
the blossoms, each one a torch set ablaze,
each one a separate image as though resisting
every strain of shadow; every breeze, a greater impact.
As it is in youth, the exposure is merely temporary.
Bio
Joanne Monte is a poet, novelist, and essayist. She is the author of a poetry collection, "The Blue Light of Dawn," which received the Bordighera Poetry Book Award. She has received a Pushcart nomination as well as numerous poetry awards, namely Sixfold, the Jack Grapes Poetry Award, Princemere, and Sheila-Na-Gig.