First Blossom
Upon the hill of Calvary
a tree, a cedar grows
Its roots were planted long ago
its sap, a crimson rose
Deep within the earth – a shaking
in highest halls of heaven’s – waking
as a tender shoot of love emerges
and mighty sower-spirit surges
through this messy muck of earth
praise, first blossom of rebirth
— Mary C. M. Phillips