It is Spring

The day ends with rain falling on daffodils.

It is spring and has been for weeks. The flowers

are no longer thirsty. The sky
has cried on them and spat on them.

They have been drenched for days,

but the colors are bright and the petals

are large, threatening to bend stems over

and lie them gently on tall grass.

The day ends with rain falling. It has

been falling for days. The colors

are rainbowesque, only

without the crystal spectrum

of light from the hot sun.

A drenching like Noah’s flood,

almost half of the forty days down

and counting.

The day ends with daffodils drowning

two by two. The color of blood

and the color of the lost sun swirl

around a drain. And the ancient oarsmen

call desperately. The day ends

with rain and saturated flowers,

and colors blending into darkness,

and colors fading to black.

-

"It is Spring" was read on March 21, 2013 and again on June 5, 2013, by Conrad Balliet on his radio segment, Conrad's Corner, as part of his local Dayton poets project on WYSO 91.3 FM.

Eric

Two from across the pond

Lonely Spirit

While collecting souls, 

I stumbled upon the bones of an old friend. 

We lost touch during the hurricane, 

when the wind was blowing, 

and rain beat against the window. 

The lights flickered then failed. 

I left to buy whiskey and a blanket 

to keep us warm.

When I returned, it was dark. 

The door on the porch was ajar 

and he was gone. 

How his bones came to lie in the desert, 

I do not know. I may never know.

But I drank that bottle alone,

wet and tired.

-

Midwest Mud

The mud seems almost fresh,
but the footprints fossilized

over a frozen winter, exposed

by ebbing snow.

They were likely left
by settlers moving south, seeking
steady work somewhere in Texas,

where oil has yet to run dry, where
dreams have yet to die, where
mud is still soft and squishy.

-

"Lonely Spirit" and "Midwest Mud" are included in issue 13 of Turbulence Poetry, a British poetry magazine established in 2009 and based in Hull, East Yorkshire, England. To obtain a copy of issue 13 or a subscription to Turbulence, visit the "Buying Turbulence" page. 

This is my first overseas publishing credit!

Eric