Spring Song

Stand with me and look down
Down with the spray
Look up
Up with the waver and warmth
If this is not spring, what can shimmy on a branch
If this is not love, what can burst inside a cloud
If compassion does not flower, what can prosper in a day
Yelling to the factory workers that spring has come
Yelling above the passion of the falls
Yelling
Trying to sail into a cloud, a rose cloud
Crazy as a water bird
Crazy as a well
A fragrance
A sorrow
I tell you it's spring
And no father, fear, or occupation
Will root me in the soil
I've eaten winter long and long
Out of the ground like a throstle
Shiver with me
What?--all life a sequence
Stumble, break your leg, lose your heart
Climb spring like a mountain goat
Stare into the avalanche
Be a bit more sturdy and daring
And wonderful
Hold a new leaf
Wash your face in the cold brook
Sprint down the banks
Open your arms
It's spring
Are you not awake
Why breathe if you won't hear this joy
Starting like a madrigal from the earth
Where's your voice
Shout your throat hoarse
Scandalize the neighbors
It's spring
At last it's spring

Read this poem on Apple News.

cover photo courtesy of Daiga Ellaby.