18. Glorious

"'From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates.'" Mark 13: 28-29

*****

There is just something about that first glorious day

Mid-March if we're lucky

When the sun breaks through

and you scramble through the pile at the back of the closet

for limb-baring apparel

because your skin itself calls out

for the light.

When you walk you skip

or dance

basking in the sheer joy of the cool breeze

and the sun's rays that pierce through the fog

you've been sleepwalking through.

You didn't even know you were half dead

like the bare branches

until now--

now that you've become tender and green,

and you leap back into living

today.

You daydream about a convertible

but you settle for all the windows down

radio blaring

singing your heart out--

the heart that bounces upwards in your chest

like a helium balloon.

You breathe love in

as deeply as you can bear

and every word you sing or speak

on this day

are in praise of God

and the magic of feeling Him

near,

at the very gates,

on this perfect, glorious day.