The End of Spring

The End of Spring

Long ago
in a small village
in China
they all sat around 
a large table 
with scissors in hands
cutting colorful silk 
like flower petals and
the old man with thin
copper wire constructed
stems and glued green
leaves and shaped them
just so
that across an ocean
on the dining room table
a silk bouquet would be
there for nearly 
a lifetime and dusted 
occasionally 
and never did
a seed come to life
or a bud burst open
to greet a bee
or butterfly
with nectar 
or pollen
just like that
flower 
so long ago
that the old man
studied 
in his garden
in a small 
village
in China.