First green

"Nature's first green is gold, / Her hardest hue to hold."  
Today the willow was a shimmer of gold and early green, and we were there to see it.

When I close my eyes

I only have to close my eyes to recall the scent of the hills out east, and the way the rumor of cougars made every morning hike an adventure.

postcard, never mailed.

This smear of yellow flowers, and the memory of the paintings I loved 

in my twenties: running into the Phillips museum to see the Bonnards. 

The shock of lavender shadows and the way 

the painting changed as I moved closer.

Cyclamen, valentine.

This weekend I kept running into old friends I hadn't seen in a while, 

and all our talk was about how the days disappear, and how we long 

to hold fast to these hours, even in rain, even in the middle of February.

winter into spring

Transformations to come.

this dance

Coming up: valentine's day in second grade.

Last winter seemed brighter.

The floating world (last July).