So unexpected —
peaches in a Devon garden
thick furred, early fallers.
In May you’d stroke each stamen
with a fine brush,
going bud to bud,
puckish
you watched for the fruit
willing summer’s ripeness.
When you died
the branches cracked
like cooling ash
the branches cracked
when you died.
Willing summer’s ripeness,
you watched for the fruit,
puckish,
going bud to bud
with a fine brush,
that May, stroking each stamen.
Thick furred, early fallers,
peaches in a Devon garden.
So unexpected —