Anticipating Reading Jane Kenyon’s Last Book of Poems/ poem by Matthew J. Spireng

I consider the Japanese cherry tree
in my yard, that it
may not bloom again, that the
sudden burst of flowers
witnessed spring after spring
may not appear, that I’ve noticed
no buds this April and fungi
grow white on its limbs. I know
though birds may sing
from the branches, they will be
the saddest of songs.


(note: This poem was previously published in
“Blueline.”)

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Matthew J. Spireng is a frequent contributor to Lightwood. You can read addition poems by him and a review of one of his books by scrolling to our Search button and entering his name.

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Matthew J. Spireng’s 2019 Sinclair Poetry Prize-winning book Good Work was published in 2020 by Evening Street Press.  An 11-time Pushcart Prize nominee, he is the author of two other full-length poetry books, What Focus Is and Out of Body, winner of the 2004 Bluestem Poetry Award, and five chapbooks. He was the winner of The MacGuffin’s 23rd Annual Poet Hunt Contest in 2018 and the 2015 Common Ground Review poetry contest. Website: matthewjspireng.com.