A Change of Season - May 5 2023

 

A Change of Season

May 5 2023

I see the people out

in early spring.

They are soft and pale

from their long hibernation,

still dressed

for cold weather

in the warm April sun.

They shade their eyes,

and blink uncomfortably,

as if befuddled

by the unaccustomed light.

She is raking the lawn,

thatched grass

the colour of straw,

mixed with brittle fragments of autumn leaves

and clouds of dry soil.

I catch just a glimpse

as I drive past;

a still photo

sepia-toned.

There is something timeless

about her taking care,

bent over the rake

methodically back and forth

tending to her lawn.

Once again

another seasonal change

and she has gotten down to work;

the usual chores

on the first nice day.

Not the linear life

progressing from birth to death,

but wheels within wheels;

the cycles

of season to season

and year after year.

She is a good custodian,

taking care

of her modest plot of land.

How reassuring

in a turbulent world

to have this small contained task.

And afterward

she can lean on her rake

chin on her hands

and survey her sovereign domain;

the fruits of her labour,

a job done well.

Gratified

to have something quantifiable

with which to measure out her life.

But as I said

I caught just a glimpse.

Perhaps she was called away.

Left it for another day.

Or was interrupted

by a sudden drenching downpour;

threw away the rake

and danced in the rain,

faced turned-up to the sky.