Primavera

Boticelli smiles,
while daffodils fret over leftover frost.

They don’t know what this year’s fashion will dictate,
so they are underdressed.

Girls on the playground have similar problems;
their pink knee socks droop as they hopscotch to keep warm.

The little boys, counterparts, laugh and push them down
as a token of late valentine love.

Rec centers get their pools ready for the coming sunshine months.
For now, they roll up the tarps and chlorinate.

Colored marshmallow animals line the shelves of pharmacy aisles,
waiting to sicken the holy ones.

As the days get longer, slowly, birds come back from
exotic lands with polaroids and sun-tans.

It rains often; big fat droplets line the pavement.
Drowning worms get fed to big Robin bellies.

People with sneezes sneeze more
but smile on their way to work, scarves resting at home.

The vernal equinox renews life, erasing winter memory
and makes us dance like pollinating bees.