There Will Come a Day

Sometimes when the country hangs over the edge
of its latest self-imposed cliff, I try to escape by
going outside to water my plantings, take in the
weather that started warmer than spring but will
end cooler than summer, this in-between time of year
when things seem suspended, like the Yellowtail
that lifted off from Weigela in pinkish bloom
towards a row of tall Arbor Vitae. I flit randomly
between this and that, settling from time to time
at a colorful spot before finding the next or wafting
into the bluest of skies, vast enough to hold most
of the world’s troubles. After quenching the begonias’
thirst, I steal a last look at the greenery and blue.
Soon there will come a day when I won’t be here.

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Jim Tilley has published three full-length collections of poetry and a novel with Red Hen Press. His poem, On the Art of Patience, was selected by Billy Collins to win Sycamore Review’s Wabash Prize for Poetry. His next poetry collection, Ripples in the Fabric of the Universe: New & Selected Poems, will be published in June 2024. Find on Instagram jimtilleyny & Website jimtilley.net