Primavera
by Louise Glück
Spring comes quickly: overnight
the plum tree blossoms,
the warm air fills with bird calls.
In the plowed dirt, someone has drawn a picture of the sun
with rays coming out all around
but because the background is dirt, the sun is black.
There is no signature.
Alas, very soon everything will disappear:
the bird calls, the delicate blossoms. In the end:
even the earth itself will follow the artist’s name into oblivion.
Nevertheless, the artist intends
a mood of celebration.
How beautiful the blossoms are—emblems of the resilience of life.
The birds approach eagerly.
from A VILLAGE LIFE by Louise Glück. Published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2009.
Most Poetry will post a poem on the theme of joy and celebration, selected by our members, each day through the month of September.