Since,
it was before anything
and yet it is not no thing
and whatever the nomenclature
we can never describe it
only the process it self;
Spring is the happy cause of all this trouble…

Since, the broken branches
of the frozen weight of winter
have found new functions
and the tribe of crows
grows and grows raucous
in whatever is left
and the casualties of another year
stand out against the clear
light green lizards of new growth
and the life that is everywhere
coming up and falling to Earth
all wants to eventually reach the sun

Since, it is bright, translucent,
it is right there underfoot
flaring the nostrils seducing the sinuses
filling the rooms seeping through walls

Since, it is the colors, the colors
more plenteous than careless
it has found us in spite of our most
arrogant selves and gently, gently
it wraps us cuddle even in sleep…

 

James Van Looy has been a fixture in Boston’s poetry venues since the 1970s. He is a member of Cosmic Spelunker Theater and has run poetry workshops for Boston area homeless people at Pine Street Inn and St. Francis House since 1992. Van Looy leads the Labyrinth Creative Movement Workshop, which his Labyrinth titled poems are based on. His work appears weekly in Oddball Magazine.