Larry Smith: "In Early Spring"

Road catkins, russet and tan, let the
wind sweep over them as dusk
seeps in along the lake,
and I pass road puddles
swelling to ponds, mirroring
the sky's own silveriness.
At the railroad tracks seven geese
veer off and set down in a field
so that only their necks
speak for them, telling us all
to go on while they rest
by the barn. Today a man
asked me if I were depressed,
and I looked up and smiled.
No more than these geese or catkins
as light falls around them, no
more than those pine boughs
lifting in the wind—just so,
life goes on.

"In Early Spring" by Larry Smith, from A River Remains (WordTech Editions, 2006). © Larry Smith. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

Art credit: "Seven Geese Leaving," photograph taken September 11, 2007, by Yakographer.