Bryan Gill "Azalea in Flight"

 White petaled blooms adorned her branches.

In the season of new life, Easter, resurrection,

these petals shone brightly in the dark,

Softening the harshness of this wildscape,

Native to this land, but far from home.

The forest was sweeter with the nectar of her blooms,

Fuller with the buzz of fuzzed companions,

Better with the songs of feathered friends.

The garden was complete.

And the gardener smiled.

Then winter came with fury.

Cold winds too strong for her tenderness,

Too harsh for her goodness.

The icy rains,

they broke her.

Unending shadows,

they overtook her.

There in the cold, beneath the snow,

her life was taken.

And the gardener wept.

Then spring arrived in hopeful greens.

The garden came alive again,

With songs of birds like old friends.

But winter’s echo still remained.

The lifeless still among the living.

The branches brittle, the leaves all gone,

And the gardener pulled the carcass from the ground.

A hole where the bearer of blooms once grew.

A missing piece, a missing peace.

And the gardener cradled her.

Why should elegance die in vain?

A creature so fair should not end in despair.

And the gardener gazed upon his beloved.

The thing for which he cared, for which he mourned.

“No,” he thought.“Death will not win.”

“Winter will not have the final say.”

“This flower will live again.”

“Redemption will b emine.”

“Her blooms will fly again.”

And the gardener held the knife.

In the firmness of his grip, the blade sliced the skin.

With care and precision, each cut with a purpose.

With focused vision, the old was stripped away.

The plant was made anew.

Not in blooms of spring,

But in eternal flight with wings.

Nothing is wasted in the gardener’s hands.

Life prevails.

Then the little bird took flight

And the gardener smiled again.

‍

Bryan Gill is an administrator and instructor in higher education. He received his bachelor’s degree from Auburn University, his master’s from Samford University, and his doctorate from Gateway Seminary in California. He writes redemptive fiction and has authored or contributed to numerous books and articles focused on helping people along their faith journey. Bryan is co-host of The Storied Outdoors podcast and enjoys fly fishing and wildlife photography. He and his wife, Sarah, met in college and have been married since 2006. They have two children, Charles and Perri.

‍

‍