Hallelujah

On this crisp spring morning,
the dogwood tree
gracefully offers its abundant platters
of delicate blossoms
in an act of grateful praise.

A royal carpet of violets
covers the ground at its feet
while mayapples stretch upward
in unbounded adoration.
A sleek blackbird on a branch
sings its tiny, glorious heart out.

It is hard to imagine
that these are the same crooked arms
and withered fingers
that just weeks ago
were grasping, pleading for mercy
at the end of a long, bleak winter.

Now, a warm, nourishing light from within
has extended to those fingertips
so that love cannot help
but pour from them.

Again and again,
life bursts forth from death,
its force unhindered
by our wavering faith in it.
Perhaps that
is the greatest comfort of all.

By Maria Brady-Smith

Photo by Mike Smith