Spring Blue

In the heart of the nation
no ocean
so I carve time to indulge
in the widest blue I know:

bluebells blooming
in the woods,
only for a short time
since branches above

show tiny yellow-green
petals-of-leaves
which in this overdue
warmth will enlarge quickly

masking sunlight feeding
this sea of blue,
stealing my ocean,
leaving me once again

on dry land. 

      May, 2018, Morton Arboretum, Lisle, IL

Spring Blue is May prize winner at Wilda Morris Poetry Challenge; photograph by Marilyn Peretti.