I have faith in leaves,
new, green,
bringing the birds.
I have faith in bud burst,
the yellow of the kowhai
praised by the tui.
The lavender’s stems
drawing the bees.
I have faith in the warming sun.
What good that has not been seen,
perhaps is tightly furled yet
on the end of a branch,
or the tall strappy tips of bulbs.
God, I sometimes think,
is like my Gladiolus.
(Whose name I hadn’t known until I asked)
Hidden, buried,
and then stretching forth
a tentative glimmer of green.
To then, one day,
start waving
a budding bouquet of fronds.
And then bloom,
all of a sudden
in a bright flourishing riot.
Abit like the gust of wind
now slamming wide
the screen door.
Faith answered,
is a slow opening
and then a beholding,
an awareness of everything new.
Ana Lisa de Jong
Living Tree Poetry
October 2021
Living Tree Poetry 