Accumulation

 

Glowing

green

grass

and trees

bursting with buds

about to bloom

the gray sky

dissolving

from rain to snow

Here

at the window

where

I watched

and waited

so much loss and learning

retreat and renewal

has accumulated

in a year

My heart feels

heavy

full

Being

 

Today

I was eyes

seeing

the single cloud

the green edging

out gray

the first flowers

I was ears

hearing birdsong

and the wind

I was

the skin

beneath still-necessary layers

heating

in the sun

feeling the breezes

stirring my hair

Today

for a moment

I was

Emerging

 

Bare branches

are strung

with pink tassels

and among

dead leaves

a spear of green

tipped in yellow

daffodil-to-come

Somewhere

not too far

a chorus

of tulips

are emerging

soon to sing color

at the tops

of their voices

Shy

 

Today

Joy emerges

from wherever

it's been sheltering

in my heart

Tentative

pale

a bit puny

but

present

Rebirth

 

Tired and thirsty

as the ground

before rain,

I long

to spring green

Clenched tight

as leaf buds

I long

to release

to open

Cold

as the overcast sky

I long

for the hopeful sun

to break through

Propagating

 

My plant companion

is joined

by another

Both sprang

from the same mother

I've read

when stressed

these green pups

emerge

more plentifully

Sometimes

trouble

brings

hope

Freedom

Freedom

is moment

by moment

water flowing

clouds

drifting

their shadows cool

before

sun breaks through

a bird

taking wing

a breeze

chasing away

the last

of autumn's

leaves

 

Book Spine Poetry

 

My submission to the Hutchinson Public Library's

Book Spine Poetry Contest

National Poetry Month

April 2021