By Emma Trelles
Barely dressed in the creamy mantilla of ornamental pear
Trees, and cold rain, and agaves unfurling their tongues
To the sun, spring inches up Garden Street, a hesitant bride
Pure in her faith that better days await, they do, and we will
All emulate the hummingbird’s rapture for hibiscus, agapanthus,
The coral bell vines that stitch every chain link into a new tapestry.
Crickets will gather in their unseen choirs, the clock will keep
Its forward march, and from a small apartment near the park
A fellow human will play guitar and sing something about
The long train ride home, something about arrival.
Emma Trelles is the author of Tropicalia, winner of the Andrés Montoya Poetry Prize. She is currently writing a second book of poems, Courage and the Clock, and has received writing fellowships from CantoMundo and the Florida Division of Cultural Affairs. She teaches at Santa Barbara City College and curates the Mission Poetry Series. Also by this poet: "Sonnet for Mark" and "The Nearest Way"