SPRING IS HERE
BY TRACY SCHLAPP
A few nights ago, I walked out to my studio and took in the rain-heavy air laden with daphne. An alarm went off and I heard my daughter’s toddler voice announce: Spring is Here! — the title of her favorite little board book. I suppose we each have a signal that change is afoot. As I write this, I hear a soft roll of thunder and look outside to heavy dark rain clouds in the north, pockets of blue sky to the south. This weather has been moving fast and fickle all day. Rain is pelting against the windows and has turned to hail. Yep, spring is here and this group of writing is the harbinger for today’s mixed forecast.
Seed packets by writers from Oregon State Penitentiary
The little seed was covered in a darkness that smelled of so many lifetimes, colors so robust that the explosion of cosmic burst — shot out in every direction.
It’s Morning by Amanda Gorman from Coffee Creek minimum
It’s morning, and I sit on the stone bench
to catch the first glimpse of spring.
Entry by Patricia Norenberg from Coffee Creek minimum
I was out in the yard writing a letter to a loved one, when a little gust of wind blew my pages into the ground.
Dragonfly by Nolan James Briden from Snake River medium
Dragons fly in all iridescent displays
Cutting air in flights of wings strong.
Dragons fly in the centering of heart
beating heartbeat that transforms into shape
Para-Troopers by Christopher Lewis from Oregon State Penitentiary
Springtime, yellow golden fields,
filled with sporadic clusters
of towering white pods.
The Rain by Chris Winter from Oregon State Penitentiary
The rain keeps falling down,
I shut my eyes and hold my ears
My face a constant frown.
Walk outside today, pause on your doorstep, and take in the world. What do you notice to the north, and to the south? | TDS