These Days Of Early Spring

These are the days
you linger outside
in the late-sun’s rays,
hearing the breeze increase in new leaves,
knowing its direction
by the way your horse’s tail
ruffles and arcs
against one hock. Or,
if it’s windy enough, how
it scoops between back legs
up under his belly,
while he casts a long shadow
and grabs mouthfuls of fattening grass.

These are the days
of few bugs yet, though
they’re coming, and growing things—
burgeoning green—buzz anyway,
too rich to contain their glee.
At night you apply lotion
to dry, sun-colored skin
and feel gritty bits of dust mixed in.
You’re hot until
the sun goes down
and the wind picks up, when
you suddenly need a jacket
to wrap these days in close to your skin.

... by Barrie Smeeth (2007)

Watercolor by Barrie Smeeth (2007)