I. spring is a simple
daisy
or dandelion or daffodil
tulips rising slender
wonders & joys
easy and sweet as magnolias
mysterious as cherry blooms
i smell life
vibrant as cardinals & blue birds
hopping & pecking on grass for worms-
beautiful & red earth you are
enough for me
II. a white flower bud,
wrinkled & bent as green grass abounds-
a tree shrub, still bare
limbs & not one leaf sprouting on its
arms shiver in the cold wind-
amidst shadbush & thriving red maple trees,
one baby bird
falls off the nest,
waits & shivers into emptiness
i was wrong,
spring is as complicated
as spring snow, dooming
what little life there is
to ice & stone
merciless or merciful, what
is your purpose?
i cannot decide
Was your palinode inspired by this Spring? We had lots of blossoms killed off by frost, which was sad to see. I loved the imagery of both poems, especially:
ReplyDeletevirbrant as cardinals & blue birds
hopping & pecking on grass for worms-
beautiful & red earth you are
enough for me
Hi Ingrid, sadly yes. Late winter snow killed some blossoms. Our spring season is so unpredictable. Thank you.
DeleteThis is incredibly poignant, Grace! 💝💝 As time goes on, our perspective shifts, as we learn to read and interpret life and it's hidden layers. I especially like; "spring is as complicated as spring snow." Yes, it most certainly is!
ReplyDeleteThank you Sanaa. After many spring seasons now, my perspective has certainly changed.
DeleteGrace, your spring of contradictions is so familiar. We have had all the flowers you mention in the first stanza, they bloomed beautifully in a couple of sunny weeks, but oh, the devastation caused by recent wind and rain is as you describe in the second stanza. I really feel for the baby bird shivering into emptiness.
ReplyDeleteI have lived in these contradictions a while... a few weeks ago it was so warm I imagined sitting outdoors for lunch, and now it's 4C and rain... I found the response almost better, the bitter truth about spring coming with frost is well known and sad.
ReplyDeleteVery relatable. I am coaxing a garden of native plants, and as new leaves and blooms attempt to grow, they are met with the whimsies of 80 degrees F. yesterday to 60 today.
ReplyDeleteFickle not only from year to year, but day to day, it seems - at least here up on Vermont's Canadian Border. Wonderfully realized work, Grace, and perfect for the prompt.
ReplyDeleteOne question: What is this "Spring", of which thou speaketh?
Just when things seemed so simple and pure in comes the darkness of the yin and yang. Our very existence is due to that dichotomy but it doesn't mean we have to like it :( Wonderful poems, Grace.
ReplyDeleteWait till Spring sends tornados! Here around Kansas City, we know she can be two-faced. A force to be reckoned with. Enjoyed this!
ReplyDeleteVery nice. I like the idea of a response to your own poem being a complicating of the original. "I was wrong" seems so simple, but it's delightfully powerful there in the center of your piece.
ReplyDeleteSpring is unprdictable and impetuous, beautiful and brutal! I had to cover my tomatoes this morning...hope they survive.
ReplyDeleteOK, reading this, now I think I better see the nature of a pslinode. You pointed out a different way of looking at something outside yourself — not recanting a viewpoint you hold personally. Now I must write a second piece. In fact, I have writtdn this type of perspective on nature in the past.
ReplyDeleteYes Spring can bring so much hope with new growth but then winter can linger a little too long and destroy so much hope. I enjoyed your way of considering both Grace ☺️
ReplyDeleteComplicated indeed! I like the way you waited till the middle of your poem to present your stated retraction! Very nicely done Grace.
ReplyDeleteSpring is always complicated!
ReplyDeleteHow can spring be the cruelest month? Yet it is, fulsome and crushing at once. Nature is complex, beautiful and horrible at once: this palinode makes the reader think deeper into the nature of just what we love so much ...
ReplyDeleteGrace, your response is spectacular. Amazing how our perspectives change.
ReplyDeleteNothing as unpredictable as the weather - we never tire of talking about it in England. Late frosts threaten the buds and blooms we have waited so long for. I can see now this is a well-chosen subject for a palinode (I say with the authority of someone who didn't really understand what that was until I read your lovely poem).
ReplyDeleteGrace,
ReplyDeleteAmazing. This image especially got to me: "one baby bird/falls off the nest,/waits & shivers into emptiness." The palinode, with its expression on cruelty in the midst of spring, disturbs the tranquility and joy of its counterpart.
You capture the contradictions of spring perfectly, JIM
ReplyDeleteWonderful
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this -- two very different perspectives n the same season.
ReplyDelete