In a Perfect World
I'd rather my old cherry
with her white earrings
let herself flourish,
instead of drying out
so her sap feeds daughters.
I'd rather hollies stopped
eating all the light
in patches of sullen green.
I'd rather the tulip
wasn't gnawed before
she had a chance
to reveal her red.
I'd rather the cleavers
didn't try to climb
over the daffodils.
I'd rather the cat didn't
snatch a bluetit
and eat it.
I'd rather the shed
wasn't a tangle of discards.
I'd rather the children played
in their expensive tree house.
Still – at this full moon,
full Spring, air tart
with promise –
I relish:
the pink flowering currant
and orange-blossomed berberis;
a bumblebee droning
in the scarlet-starred quince.
The forsythia blazes up,
and the bluebells have decided
to take over the universe.
Even the obstreperous wild garlic
offers me its flowers
to garnish my lunch.
Katie Donovan has published five collections of poetry with Bloodaxe Books. Her most recent, Off Duty (2016), was shortlisted for the Irish Times/Poetry Now Prize. In 2017 she was the recipient of the Lawrence O’Shaughnessy Award for Irish Poetry.