Persistence of Milkweed
Philip Jamison, American, b. 1925, Milkweed, ca. 1950-1960, Watercolor on Paper
Persistence of Milkweed
Have you ever noticed
that milkweed
in March,
standing straight out of the snow,
the pod half blown out,
half full, still, of silky seeds,
the skin on the pod and stalk
silver and brown
varnished in the storms of two seasons
doesn’t resemble, at all,
the sweet prickly-pod of August?
Light green stem, dripping and furred,
lush leaves like something from the sea
growing in waves by the road
doesn’t look as if it would survive
one windstorm—
too undulant and green
too fragrant and soft.
And there it is, unassuming
denizen of wintered fields,
with few companions in the white,
stalk thready and stiff
but rattling in the breeze, giving
just enough.
It stands till the last seed flies off
and after that, a little longer.
--Amelia Wood ~ for Celia Bandman ~
