Florence

By the window,

lapping up the sun,

I read Rossetti’s, “The First Spring Day,”

and leaned my head against the pane

as if to become one

with blush blossoms

sprouting from the tree

and our neighbor’s sign

in bright yellow, pink and green:  hello spring.

Spring:  Florence Nightingale’s

cool kiss on the fevered brow of humanity.

Oh blow, swing your lamp—

your breath, meadowsweet,

your step, light, in our cimmerian war.

© 2020 Jennifer Wagner

dverse poetics:  in the time of the plague

Hope you all are well.  ~Love, Jen

“The First Spring Day” by Christina Rossetti