Spring Arrives Late to Salt Lake City
Why so hesitant, spring? What’s the problem?
I’ve never known you quite this shy.
You’re like a new girl in junior high,
avoiding the hallways, the lunch room,
strangely oblivious of your own beauty
or perhaps afraid of it, keeping it hidden.
But what’s happening? All of a sudden
you’re trying prom dresses on all over the city,
absurdly poufy pinks, whites, purple-reds,
yards and yards of crinoline beneath each skirt.
And now you’re tearing them up! Exquisite shreds
cover streets, cars, sidewalks, rooftops, grass. . . .
You’re back to all or nothing, spring. I’m envious.
I aimed to be like that, but I lost heart.
Feature Date
- February 12, 2018
Series
Selected By
Share This Poem
Print This Poem
Copyright © 2017 by Jacqueline Osherow
All rights reserved.
Reproduced by Poetry Daily with permission
Jacqueline Osherow is the author of seven collections of poetry, including most recently Ultimatum from Paradise (LSU Press, 2014). Her new collection, My Lookalike at the Krishna Temple, is forthcoming from LSU Press in the spring of 2019. She’s received grants from the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Ingram Merrill Foundation, and the Witter Bynner Prize from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. She’s Distinguished Professor of English at the University of Utah and currently directing the Creative Writing Program.
“. . . Able Muse fills an important gap in understanding what is really happening in early twenty-first century American poetry.”
—Dana Gioia
“Able Muse is refreshing to read for its selection of poetry that adheres to form, and is overall a quality magazine offering the reader informed and unexpected views on life.”
—Valerie Wieland, NewPages.com
Poetry Daily Depends on You
With your support, we make reading the best contemporary poetry a treasured daily experience. Consider a contribution today.