Spring Yearnings

The air softens; daylight hours lengthen and grow warmer;
Before the last ice melts from the ponds,
And the last snow vanishes from under evergreens,
Spring hastens in our hearts accelerating our desire.

We would not wish away one day of life,
Nor shorten by one breath an hour of life's time
But we tire of winter: of layers of clothing, mittens, hats and boots.
We yearn for the lightness of open shirts, legs bare to the sun.

Winter has its uses: without it we might not appreciate
The dog days of August,
Nor would we have a chance to watch the stars come out on winter afternoons,
Or relish a snooze in bed as the chilly dawn drags up the sun.

Piercing us with its chill, Winter makes us hug ourselves for warmth.
Spring opens our arms and hearts to life and one another.
As Spring steps into the wings we seek its presence center stage,
And smiles, like little suns, bloom on our faces imitating nature.

Spring Melting

The ice melts
The water is freed from its prison.
It runs down the street
To rendezvous with other rivulets
To join the gathering flood
That exits somewhere far away.

The sun reflects on it,
Sparkling liquid diamonds
Dissolved in light.
That which was Winter's frozen time
Becomes Spring's advertisement
Saying "Here, Now, Listen Up, Rejoicing Is!"


Ashes to Earth to Spring

The once vast pile of branch and weed
No longer mounds
Beneath the swooping branches
Of the tall old hemlock.
Now it is smoke and ash.
Grey powder
Sinking beneath the rain.

Dust unto dust, earth to earth,
Cycling into renewal,
Beneath the rain of years,
How we too burn and melt
To grow again,
To bloom, to fruit,
To see the Spring once more.