when April breathes


the birth of life
consumes the fresh sleep
and the skies open again
closer now to the heat
of the sun

the birds return
on a wind of song
to the fertile flirtations
of crisp blooms
and leaves

the rains sweep in
spilling the kiss of life
across the tender fields
yearning as for
a lover's touch
amid temperate shifts
that no longer beckon
breath to linger
and hang

the earth turns
eager to wake
whispering it's thunder
to all of it's children
to become the abundance
the love
the life
the shape

I have come into this
reality borne
of dreams
screaming with the vigor
of the instinct to breathe
kicking and screaming
until my mother's breast
was found
beneath her
contented gaze

all the events of life
scheduled with alarming precision
breeding variation
and modification
on a theme
cued by her insistent
compassionate
arrival

her essence lingers
as a light finger
running down my spine

her laughter lingers
like the spring morning
mist
turning to dew

she speaks
in tones and notes
once reserved
for the herald
of god

she dances
amidst fields of flowers
reaching to touch her flesh
warmed by the sun

she walks
and life spills
into an infinite landscape
in her wake

I watched once
as she wept
and from her tears
were born stars

even her sadness
is sublime
and as natural
as spring

the month of my birth
the sound of her name
and one more
coincidence
falls

her pains and pleasures
her victories and woes
her dreams and her nightmares
her friends and her foes

all fall to humble knees
in the green grass
she brings

all turn to the heavens
when she finally arrives
and secretly
thank god

all the birth
and renewal
all the love
and hope
all the compassion
and dreams
of this fragile world
becomes
our real

when April breathes