Presidents' Day

[Wilyem Clark]

Some of us could not escape
This latest outburst from the north,
A Sunday overnighter prolonged
Well into the trailing holiday.
Partial delight: a gloppy glazing,
A buttercreaming of the world
That daubed its sticky sugar-slime
On limbs and roofs and windowsills.
I have some friends who weeks ago
Packed up their shorts and aloha shirts
And fled to sandy Gulfside shores
To bathe and bask in warming waves.
They missed our "snap" and this, its end:
A cough and spit-up of polar phlegm,
But they've deprived themselves of awe—
The keener edge of seasons' change
That gives rebounding spring its oomph,
A push that peels away these shrouds
And heralds an urgent march of green.

[Delta40]

Each time I read your poetry, I feel full as if I'd dined at an all you can eat and found the food was so good, one plate was sufficient.