magnolia

every year i anxiously await

the arrival of blooming magnolias

on the trees of the suburbs.

i'm not sure i could even say

exactly when they bloom.

but when they come, they come.

and when they're not around,

i think, aw i hope the magnolias

bloom soon. i'll feel better then.

i told him once that when i

die, i want them to plant a

magnolia tree for me. sometimes,

i imagine something more

grandiose, like a sapling that

grows into a giant oak, steady

and strong, planted on the expansive

land that i raised my children on.

but i think, i'd rather have an

elegant magnolia with a more

medium sized abdomen and arms,

being sort of normal and also

beautiful and understated.

most likely planted in some

forgotten place where travelers

will wander and eat picnics

beneath her. and where my

friends will wonder when the

magnolias will bloom, we wished

the magnolias would bloom.

everything would be better then.