THE EQUINOX
Equal day, equal night;
Something so nice it comes around twice.
Once in the Fall
and then in the Spring,
suddenly the seasons
start all over again.
When the summer’s too hot
and the winter is not
and you can’t wait for a season
that’s out of the box;
Just take note
of the equinox.
THE LAST AFTERNOON OF WINTER
Winter slows to a crawl
with lifeless trees, dead grass and all
the things that wait till spring,
And all the warmth that comes
with that thing.
But here on the last afternoon,
the afternoon that couldn’t
come too soon;
When winter will finally be gone,
the winter that has lasted so terribly long;
I remember the sledding
and the mittens and scarves,
overcoats warming our backs
and our arms.
Who needs them?
Spring will arrive exactly on time
and all the sudden all the trees
will be alive and bursting forth
with green and with life
and all of us will know — what?
What’s that you say?
It’s about to snow?
On the last afternoon of winter?
It doesn’t seem fair,
but you know what?
I don’t really care.
Spring starts tomorrow
and summer’s in the air.
MR. SPRING WILL BE LATE THIS YEAR
We just received a note in the mail;
Informing us of a very unfortunate tale;
About a fellow who should have been here by now;
If only he could have figured out how.
It happen in a very strange way;
On the very same date you call Groundhogs’ Day;
You see, a shadow was seen
sometime between the morning’s first gleam
and the afternoon’s gloom.
After that Mr. Spring retired to his room.
He stayed there all day;
and there wasn’t any way
to get him to come out.
That’s all that’s about.
Oh, there’s plenty to fear
because Mr. Spring will be late this year.
Keep your coat handy
and lay off the candy
and don’t pack your snow boots away.
It was the groundhog who told me
with a sniffle and a tear:
“Mr. Spring will be late this year.”
