For such a beautiful tree, there are surprisingly few poems about magnolias.
Magnolias bloomed in the Garden of Eden.
A myriad sunlit candles
Crowding the tree of knowledge –
So commonplace that angels
Scarcely gave them a second thought.
Magnolias bloomed in God’s backyard.
Loathe to relinquish such a familiar sight
Adam and Eve smuggled a handful of seeds
As they “with wand’ring steps and slow
Through Eden took their solitary way.”
Magnolias blossomed in every land.
Flamboyant flames of pink and white
Dancing tenaciously in the breeze.
They, too, were a covenant
For all people and all time.
Magnolias bloomed again this year,
Glimmering in the vast darkness of space:
A final fling before the party ends.
As we gamble with the future of our planet,
It seems there may be no place for old joys.
