Friday, March 12, 2010

Cold Spring by Lawrence Raab


Here in New England, we have four very distinct seasons. Spring doesn’t usually arrive early where I live. In the past week, we had a spell of warm, sunny weather. It was so good to have an extended “taste” of spring. Now it’s cold and gray again.

I was looking for poems about spring this morning. Cold Spring was the second poem I read—and I knew I had found the one I wanted to post today. I love the way Lawrence Raab (and other poets) can use a season, the weather, food—anything—and relate it to something in their lives…to something hidden under the “tangible” surface of things we see, hear, smell, or touch.


Cold Spring
By Lawrence Raab

The last few gray sheets of snow are gone,
winter’s scraps and leavings lowered
to a common level. A sudden jolt
of weather pushed us outside, and now
this larger world once again belongs to us.
I stand at the edge of it, beside the house,
listening to the stream we haven’t heard
since fall…

You can read the rest of the poem here.


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At Wild Rose Reader, I have an original acrostic poem about spring: HIBERNATION. (It's about a mother bear waking up, sensing a warmer season, and thinking about taking her cubs out into a world they have never seen.

The Poetry Friday Roundup is over at Becky’s Book Reviews.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

On the subject of Spring :o)

Squirrely dear Squirrely
Your tail is so bushy,
But nibbling nuts
You sit right on your tushy.

Now Squirrely you know
I don't mean to be pushy,
But sitting bare bottomed
Is not very cushy.

Your tail is a cushion
that's ready for use,
It's attached to your butt
So you have no excuse.

You shouldn't go waving it
Up in the air,
A hunter could shoot you
And then sell your hair!

Just do what I say
And sit on your fur,
You'll have a nice pillow
Where your buttcheeks once were.

© D. Spencer

P.S. Alvina is awesome.

Anonymous said...

I know Friday is Poetry Friday but could we have another personal life entry from a Blue Rose girl on Friday as on the other four days of the week in addition to the poem entry? I look forward every day to reading them and really miss it on Fridays.

Thanks for considering it, Blue Rose Girls.

Elaine Magliaro said...

Anonymous at 5:06 PM--

Sometimes I do include a little personal story along with a poem on Poetry Fridays--as when I wrote about my daughter's engagement, how anthologists had bought some of my poems after reading them at my blog Wild Rose Reader, the death of a former student, my having writer's block. The poems I choose to post on Fridays often express some thoughts and emotions that I share with the poets who wrote the poems. Speaking for myself--there are many things about my personal life that I prefer to keep private. I'm sorry that you feel disappointed when you find only a poem here at Blue Rose Girls on Fridays.

Elaine Magliaro said...

A follow-up to Anonymous--

I would also like to point out the following recent (February 19th) Poetry Friday post of mine to you:
THUMBPRINT by Eve Merriam
http://bluerosegirls.blogspot.com/2010/02/thumbprint-by-eve-merriam.html

alexandra said...

my response to anonymous: i disagree with you!

i love poetry fridays. many times i find myself writing one of the poems out and hanging it on my writing wall. dorky, i know. i actually have a wall filled with quotes and stories and YES, poems from poetry friday.

i think blue rose girls is special becuase each day is different. i look forward to all of them.

Anonymous said...

Hi, Elaine,
I hope you didn't think that I didn't appreciate the personal tidbits you sometimes share with us in your entries. I did, and do, enjoy them. Plus I always like the poems you choose. I guess I could have expressed myself better. Keep on keeping on.

laurasalas said...

This perfectly describes spring in Minnesota--not very pretty! It's always so barren once the snow melts...

I esp. love "The woods are a mangle" and "The first splurge of crocuses."

(By the way, the link doesn't work--but this link does: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/archive/poem.html?id=179024)

Elaine Magliaro said...

Laura,

Thanks. That was weird. I looked at URL of the poem that you left in your comment. It was the same one I had copied and pasted in the link box at Blogger. I can't figure out why the link didn't work.
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Alexandra,

I'm glad you enjoy Poetry Fridays and some of the poems I post here.

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Anonymous,

It's difficult for me to post more than a poem and a few words every Friday at Blue Rose Girls--as I do a special Poetry Friday post every week at Wild Rose Reader and some weeks at Political Verses.