Skin

To be the breath of spring again 
  and the delicate violet
  growing off the path in the dark, acid humus 
So new, so exquisite, so beautiful
   in deep rich purples and light lavenders
   framed in jades and emeralds
Like those petals of the sweet violet damp 
   carefully unfolding,
How carefully we skirt their fragile stems
How we admire their hopeful existence.

Juxtaposed
A waterlogged American Chestnut stump, 
   decades old
   worn from weather and experience,
   which intended to remove its existence 
   sits moss covered and lichen poxed 
So ancient, 
  were these once prolific trees,
they sheltered wildlife and shaded seasons

Like a centerpiece model
   celebrated and photographed, 
   the violet in its youth and beauty 
   outshines the old stump
Ascospores impaired the majesty
   of spreading arms of foliage and grace 
   leaving only relics and vestiges
 
The skin of an aged woman in her wheelchair
   withered and folded
   gnarled knuckles and swollen fingers
   twist and clutch 
Perhaps to a spring day: sun-filled and warm
Glazed cataracts and age spots
   her own time-told markers
   evidence a long life.
a spoon held before her, waits
As a young girl attends her, dismissively