Bloom

Here is a poem from Bloom, a book illustrated by John Lincoln:

Magnolia Lightbound
(Poem by Giles Watson. Painting by John Lincoln.)

The first magnolia sought the warmth before the age of bees.
Cretaceous sunlight streamed through ferns, warming
the long articulated backs of dragonflies, the soft flanks
of dinosaurs, and that fresh bud, almost broken, was webbed
about with rays, the tepals leathery, carpels hardened
for loving ravages of beetles, clanking in their carapaces.

This descendent arches the driveway, drops spent blooms
on the verandah to be speared by stilettoes and strewn
into the hall – but stretching trembling arms, a child
cups a growing blossom in her hand, feels warmth
on her highlights, breathes leaf-mould, hears a beetle’s wing.

She thrills to strains of ancientness; the buds begin to sing.