~
The bearded ladies
suddenly swoon
and one by one,
they break into bloom.

And all, by mid-May days!
The late ones in June.
It’s then these late ladies
come to subsume

all the late babies
of first spring, at noon.
Then later, the one-eyed-
Susans assume,

by which time the ladies
have lost all their groom –
Fall in, fallen,
all their pearl blooms,

‘til next year appear
the beards in festoons.
Where then be their lovers,
that Time also dooms?

Perhaps there another,
where love left, resumes.
For him, who would love them,
Time also looms –

Faceless and shapeless,
like Time, Love consumes.
~

©2015 Marvin Welborn
11 May 2015. Revised 3 Jun 15. 25 Mar 16. 4 May 2016