Spring Time

The trouble with Winter

Is equivalence.

Each day is equal to every other.

The heavy clouds are all the same.

The rain is equal signs tipped

And slanting downward,

Falling this hour the same as the last.

Dull, boring sameness...

But, Oh!, Spring!

Each second now bears change with it.

There are so many things to watch.

Every plant has its zipping timeline

Rushing at break-neck speed.

From the first cracked, damp earth

That is rent apart by the escaping daffodil

To the triumphant bloom

To the hard green seedpod forming,

There is always something new.

The rhodi buds have been there all winter

But now they swell

With life, with red and pink,

Zinging along like a kid on a skateboard.

The clouds puff and then disappear,

Exercising your neck and eyes to follow them.

The thick, dappled shade beneath

The redwoods

Has pinpoints of light that dart

In and out like small mice dancing.

Spring is unequal.

It is Greater Than.

 April 23, 1999