Perennial Love

by Taylor Blayse

PERENNIAL LOVE

A streak of red soars across a

white, frigid landscape.

I watch.

He perches atop the evergreens

as they commune together.

The only two remaining colors in a world

stripped bare.

The flowers of yesterday have long since passed,

and my spirits with them.

I long for light,

for warmth,

for longer days.

Tell me, dear sun, why do you hide your precious face?

But this streak of red,

this glimmer of hope.

It stirs up the soil of my soul—

It picks through weeds and bulbs and

last year’s dead flower clippings.

And there,

a seed,

planted by the One who holds

my heart.

Is this perennial love?

Coming back again and again,

painting beauty back into the world,

though small.

Flying and fluttering and feeling the sun

despite all odds.

I want to be loved the way a cardinal longs to sing—

Every morning, in every season, no matter what the weather brings.

So, I pluck evergreen needles.

I let them scatter across the palm of my pale hand.

I curl my fingers around them as

I watch

the cardinal—

nature’s pulsing heartbeat

in a seemingly dead world.

I gather this green up,

I tie a bow around its center—

This

bouquet of perennial love.

Thank you, God.

TAYLOR BLAYSE

Taylor Blayse is a wife, writer, and greenhouse manager for her family’s business, The Garden Party. She holds a B.A. in music and English from the University of Missouri. In her writing, Taylor loves to explore themes of hope, whimsy, wonder, and childlike faith. Her writing has been published at Calla Press, Humana Obscura, Twenty Hills, Prosetrics, and others. When she isn’t writing, she can be found reading, spending time with friends, gardening, wandering around bookstores, and enjoying the outdoors.

To read more of her poetry and fiction, visit her Substack: @taylorblayse or her Instagram @taylorblayse.