Patricia Asuncion’s most recent poem to appear here was “Heart Unwrinkled” (June 2017)
Changed Climate
By Patricia Asuncion
Chronic sickness pecks
at the graceful, ripe skin
that binds us.
Pristine sprouts, untried
cures, sustain delicate
deal-making, but, dogged
heat puckers
harsh truths, spoils
fruits before they ripen.
Broken, unsorted
turns of color
settle in weighty drifts.
Vulnerable, the tree
reveals our worried branches
as leaves succumb.
Sun, overcome,
creeps lower each day, a cloaked
warning of cold. Extended
night cannot be ignored,
despite our extra layers.
Sometimes it’s a blessing and others it’s not.