A Slow Spring
A slow spring:
Coiled and ready
Pressed down hard
Contained and compact
Energy building like a storm
Tingling with life.
A slow spring:
Buds swelling and greening
Twigs quivering with anticipation
And the quickening feet of sparrows
Making them bend and shake;
Soft breezes, not harsh gales.
A slow spring
Fields still bare, brown
Mud becoming fertile chocolate
Laid in stripes across land
Seeded and prepared
And poised to explode.
A slow spring:
Bird song rising to crescendo
Drowning the rush of melt-water
And the creak of old trees
Shaking with surging sap and age
A slow spring:
Rushing rampant
Wanton in warmth
Catching up lost time
Hurtling recklessly forward
Into a swift, welcome summer.