P oetry R epair S hop (1999.07: 080)
- CONTEMPORARY INTERNATIONAL POETRY
- by new, emerging, and established poets

DALE A. EDMANDS
1900 in Retrospect

When winter finally arrives, it is March!
The sun greets us earlier each morning,
And hangs around a little later each afternoon.
Snow blankets this good land, and birds
Scream at us from every naked limb!
From the backyard porch I watch four
Planets align themselves, and marvel
At this celestial precision-
Inside, you feverishly open the big box
From Burpee, spreading out the seed packets
Across the wide bed, your eyes as blue
As the sky that will help sow them!
I stand at the quiet edge of a star-filled night,
Eyeing the full moon rise over the thicket,
The snow providing a smooth pallet for
The shadows of the black trees.
We are at the end of something here,
Something more than a season, something
More than I can fully grasp, so I grasp your
Hand instead, and standing at the threshold
Of a new, centennial spring,
I hold on perhaps just a little tighter,

And a little bit longer too.

A Member of The Writer's Ring Virtual Community

Poem copyright 1999; all rights reserved. (If you desire a copy of this poem, please contact the AUTHOR).