Tree

Halfway down
an unfamiliar block
as I’m headed home to dinner
I come upon a small dogwood in full flower.
I stop and take in the sight
of so many soft petals,
the blossoms so profuse
they overlap each other
in a happy tangle of tender friendships.
Here I am,
beat from a day that went all wrong,
standing on a broken sidewalk
in a city of hard edges
with a chemical bite to the evening air,
and even though this is a dogwood tree
and I’m a dog person,
it makes me feel like purring