Granted

   Have you looked outside?

   You won’t know how it really is

   Until you do
 

   It’s so cold

   Just those two cardinals

   Making their rounds

   And otherwise quiet

   No wind, no commotion
 

   When you’re out there

   Will you look back in?

   So much of me, what you can see, is granted

   Rooted in love

   Flowering too much

   Reproductive, unstoppable

   When seen and touched by you

   It’s true 

 

   Something, though, is not granted

   Something I’m saving
 

   My life’s more spent than not

   And I live for others now, most days 

   But I’m saving this