a clean glass of cool water
will smile in deep summer,
will even sweat some on its sides
in kind keeping with your thirst
purity has a name
you’ll never sneak up on
because its everything is said & done
with the simplest of transparencies
and here is the lesson
lived gently by the redbud in spring…
it flowers splendid before it leaves
and only after you were taught
do you look back & remember:
“By God! It was pure glory!”
Bill Clarke is 90,
the young son of one whole village
of trees in whose center sits
a quiet park with a clearing
at its heart where many souls
for many years have come to celebrate
in keeping with his kindness.
*Greg says that he is playing with his name
