I coaxed you
into a walk.
You indulged me
this time.
Hand in hand down our street
we pass a row of cherry blossoms
in full regalia. Rice-paper petals
carpet asphalt and gutter.
Biblical-beams of sunlight
shaft through the open clouds.
I am easily bamboozled
by such mid-spring insanity;
the solar gift of a 2:00 p.m. stroll,
your skin on mine—
I was about to state the obvious.
I was about to say how beautiful.
When I saw your narrowed eyes
scan from treetop to street,
street to branch. You shook
your head slowly
and said
what a mess.