In the cemetery the silent stones
Stand guard above plots of covered decay
And vaults of nothing but a heap of bones
Wait for the music to dance another day.
The free magnolia sways with splendid ease
Her sweet kissing buds to the sunlight drawn.
Indeed wears no leaves like the other trees
Save lovely blossoms, she has nothing on.
Years ago I knew a magnolia tree
Watched her every day from my dining room
It was Lent as she opened up for me
I opened slightly; she to Easter bloom
Now each spring she comes, calls me by my name
Opens up and whispers: “Come, do the same.”
Michael Doyle 3-30-10
This great magnolia tree is in Evergreen Cemetery at Ferry and Mt. Ephraim in Camden . The “dining room” is in St. Joan of Arc Rectory in Camden where Michael Doyle spent 18 happy months with the late Father Joe Von Hartleben where they both watched a magnolia tree budding onward to bloom and Joe with his camera made a slide a day of the progress and then the slide show was his Easter Homily in 1974. Joe, a great priest, died on January 9, 1999. This sonnet is written in his honor. His life now in full Easter bloom forever!
Christ is Risen! Indeed, He is Risen! Happy Easter 2010!