Verdant

Green is not my favorite color.

But who can resist pea green, olive green,
lily-leaf green, spinach green, grasshopper green,
mint green, fiddlehead green, and
apple-blossom green all mixed together
on the hillside as you drive to work
in late April?

Only in this month does green speak to me.

The shy light-green of the oak tree leaves and
the bold, shimmery green of the newborn grass,
just a smidge lighter and duller than the
brassy color of Easter-basket grass.

My mother died in November,
as red and gold receded into brown, and
white was only a stone’s throw away.

My mother’s eyes were a deep olive green:
bright and rare.

Laura C. Wendorff is professor of English, Ethnic Studies, and Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. She has been published in several journals, including After the Pause, Bluestem, Door Is A Jar, Foliate Oak Literary Magazine, Hektoen International, Minetta Review, The Opiate, Poydras Review, Sanskrit Literary-Arts Magazine, Schuylkill Valley Journal, Spillway, Temenos, Two Cities Review, Voices de la Luna, and Wisconsin Poets Calendar. Wendorff’s essay “Worth The Risk: Writing Poetry About Children With Special Needs” was nominated for a Best of the Net Award and the Pushcart Prize. Laura also enjoys growing flowers, playing the piano, and has been a member of the same book club for over a decade.