Richard Schnap’s most recent poem to appear here was My Father’s Dream (October 2014).
After the Thaw
By Richard Schnap
As winter’s grey grass segues to green
And the magnolia buds thicken and swell
I open my door and its hinges creak
A sign of the advent of widening warmth
On the street I see the actors emerge
To their appointed roles on the neighborhood’s stage
The white-haired woman with her plastic bag
Gathering trash once hidden by the snow
The beggar who somehow survived the cold
Perched on the corner with his Styrofoam cup
The girl who strums a guitar in silence
Hearing a melody blossom in her mind
And as I watch the season’s first cat
Chasing the prize of the season’s first bird
I know it is spring when I hear the man
Who talks to himself begin to start singing