A fly wounds the water but the wound

soon heals. Swallows tilt and twitter

overhead, dropping now and then toward

the outward-radiating evidence of food.

The green haze on the trees changes

into leaves, and what looks like smoke

floating over the neighbor’s barn

is only apple blossoms.

But sometimes what looks like disaster

is disaster: the day comes at last,

and the men struggle with the casket

just clearing the pews.