Red Geraniums

for Anna & Neil

The red geraniums
on the ledge remind me
of my parents—and how they grew
the same flowers
in our garden on the other side
of the world.

Here, on the cliffs
at Santorini,
the geraniums breathe
Aegean air; the sun warms
their blood and they tremble in the winds
like the wings of swallows
before first flight.

There will be nowhere
to fly except earthwards
when their petals and leaves fall off.
All the morning watering
in the world will not put off
that inevitable flight.

In the meantime
they glow red as fire
and deep as blood,
delighting the eye
and giving joy to the heart, leaning together
against the blinding white
of a painted ledge
and the Aegean’s glassy blue

as if they’d just burst into bloom
and Santorini was on the other side of the world.

Santorini, 8/6/08