Just outside our back porch is a flowering cherry tree. During the forty-two years we have lived in this house it has served as the perfect climbing tree, housed a home-made fort, been home to countless birds, squirrels, and insects, and offered a branch for my grandson’s first swing. It has survived the fall of large limbs blown down in windstorms, and even refused to give up when a falling pine came crashing through our porch roof, shearing off about a fourth of it. And every spring, right on cue, it erupts into a mass of glorious pink blossoms, so beautiful that any thoughts of the need to cut it down vanish from our thoughts. So it is not surprising that it was the first thing to come to my mind when I read the three words Amy Ludwig VanDerwater picked for inspiration earlier in the week – start, glorious, glorified. It also happened to be the day her lesson was about writing acrostics.
The Cherry Tree
Gnarled branches
Lie in wait for rain and sun until
One small bud pokes through,
Ready to reveal
Its pink splendor
Over an emerald lawn,
Under a sapphire
Sky.
You can find today’s poetry roundup here. Thanks, Molly, for hosting.
Imagine the Possibilities 
That’s a beauty!! We have one in our front yard and I posted about it this week, too. The pull of pink blossoms is irresistible!
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Thanks, Tabatha. I look forward to this tree blooming every year, and especially this year it is bringing so much joy.
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What a gorgeous friend, this tree! And your acrostic is lovely.. I am particularly enamored of that sneaky “g” in gnarled. Well done!
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Thank you, Irene. For some reason, your comment made me go back and reread and I discovered that I had left out a line (the second “o” in glorious). Fixed now.
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What a wonderful tree to have in your yard. Your poem celebrates your cherry tree so gloriously.
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Thank you!
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Your cherry tree certainly looks glorious–and I love the way your poem celebrates it.
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Thank you!
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The colors in this poem are so vivid. We had a Japanese cherry tree in our old back yard. I’ve missed watching it bloom this spring.
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Thanks, Laura!
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Beautiful! I also like how you thought to use gnarled for the g. I was also inspired by Amy LV to write an acrostic poem.
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I found “gnarled” in a different poem I wrote about the tree, so I used it here, too. Thanks for reading.
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Nice! I love an acrostic where the vertical word is something unexpected. A glorious poem for a glorious tree.
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Thanks for reading!
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Oh, that tree is glorious indeed! What a beauty and how wonderful the memories cradled in its gnarled branches.
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Thank you for your very poetic comment!
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I love how acrostics can reveal so much, Rose, as yours does of the love of your cherry tree in all its glory of color set with spring’s brightness. I’m jealous, too. Our flowering trees are just now beginning to emerge. I hope my walk today will reveal at least one! Thanks for the backstory, too!
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Thanks, Linda!
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Lovely acrostic! Are you getting ready for your line choice and line creations for the Progressive Poem? :-)
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Thanks, Mary Lee. Yes, I know my day is Monday. I’m kind of nervous about it. I never participated before, but Margaret asked me if I wanted to join in and I said yes without really knowing what I was getting into. I love the way the poem is going. Just hope I don’t mess it up!
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Those colors! Love your acrostic, Rose!
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Thanks, Laura.
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What a tree! And a glorious poem to honor it.
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Thanks, Kay.
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You’re so lucky to have such a gorgeous tree in your yard! Nice acrostic!!
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Thank you!
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The sapphire sky and the gnarled branches…my favorites in this poem.
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Thank you!
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Rose, from gnarled to sky (spaphire), I enjoyed your poem. Not only the images but the sentiment lulled me into a state of bliss.
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Thank you, Carol!
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