Early Spring

Lying in bed afraid to come out from under the blankets
I watch as the snow begins to fall,
my mind is full of images of yesterday.

Sunlight shines luminous on the water.

A cardinal alights on a tree branch.

The tender buds of spring.

Me, sitting on the riverbank, my coat tossed carelessly aside.

Relaxing on the bank immersed in tranquility.
Listening to the poignant music of the river.
I  glimpse into Nirvana through the bars of winter’s prison.

As I looked up at my love
all I can see is a silhouette of joy
surrounded by a radiant halo of warm sunlight.

It feels like the clutches of winter have released their grasp
and the world is ready to be born anew.
Alas, I know that is not yet so.

A break from death’s dress rehearsal is all we are experiencing.
As I glimpse at the buds on the trees and the songbirds in the air
I want to cry out a warning, but the peaceful beauty holds me mute.

It is too early for you fruits of summer to begin your journey to my table.

I dream of the future in this reverie of spring.
I feel the fits and starts as the cold grudgingly releases its grip
I feel myself become anxious for the thaw.

Yet I know that this brief respite is only a taste.
It is too soon to leave the comfort of our slumbers.
Death is not ready to liberate life, it is testing its powers.

For shall we enter the stage too early
the dress rehearsal can quickly become the main act
all too easily.

So for me, I will return to today
warmed by memories of yesterday
as I watch the snow fall outside my window.

Jay Luptak
Whitehall, MI
February 21, 2012