Spring Poem by Shawn McAllister

Spring is the birth of every year, playing
enthusiastically with nature, newborn
thrills of life’s abundance, anticipating
more to come, to share

I met my lover in the spring
In the spring our child was born

Bird songs telling me the time of year, saying
now is when Shakespeare’s sonnets blend
with Eliot’s mind and Tolkien’s fantasies, mixed
with peaceful greenery, allowing
memory to open and run free
This year is born
Spring is here

The Mountain Laurel spreads its corolla, embracing
the warm affections of the sun, tulips
smile at passersby and giggle at
the children’s playful laughter
Reclining by a Sugar Maple I watch
images run wildly through the sky
One just passed before me, playing
leapfrog with the clouds, painting
portraits in its trail, brushing
strokes of Jessamine and Apple Blossoms, picturing
flourishing fields of goldenrod
where cardinals spread their wings to fly
May Day portraits of a child, happy
branches of a love that sings, springtime
innocence giving laughter to the world

I walk cindertracks of amorous strolls, absorbing
sounds of glee around me rolling
passed the treetops of Sheep’s Meadow
like Tchaikovsky overtures, tapping
heartbeats in the distance, godly rollicks
in the heavens, gently singing
music of the universe to me
The voice of nature is alive, supposedly
to tell me it has come to stay
Springtime is forever

I kissed her in Springtime
In Spring I was conceived

Day by day the sun climbs higher in the sky, feeding
sunshine to tender living cycles, soothing
every leaf and feather in its way, subtly reminding
Spring never fades away, growing
rather quietly instead to Summer