Come in!

I actually built a fire in the stove this morning. It will probably be the last. I hope so. I'm ready for spring. My daffodils are up and finches frisk happily around the bird feeder, even though the day is  damp and cold. I walked outside and saw this reflection in a pool of last night's rain on the stones of my patio. It's March coming in.

Linda Baie hosts Poetry Friday today at her blog, TeacherDance. Stop by and enjoy the roundup.

Dear March - Come in - 

by Emily Dickinson

Dear March - Come in - 
How glad I am -
I hoped for you before -
Put down your Hat - 
You must have walked -
How out of Breath you are - 
Dear March, how are you, and the Rest -
Did you leave Nature well - 
Oh March, Come right upstairs with me -
I have so much to tell -

I got your Letter, and the Birds - 
The Maples never knew that you were coming -
I declare - how Red their Faces grew -         
But March, forgive me - 
And all those Hills you left for me to Hue - 
There was no Purple suitable - 
You took it all with you -         
  
Who knocks? That April -
Lock the Door -
I will not be pursued -
He stayed away a Year to call 
When I am occupied -         
But trifles look so trivial 
As soon as you have come
 
That blame is just as dear as Praise 
And Praise as mere as Blame -

Poetry Friday

It's late in the day, and the temperature is dropping again. Though it's nothing compared to the last week here in the Deep South. It makes me want to curl up beside a fire, wrap myself in fleece, and read a good book of poems. In honor of the day, the moment, the words, here's one from Emily Dickinson.

He ate and drank the precious Words --
His Spirit grew robust --
He knew no more that he was poor,
Nor that his frame was Dust --

He danced along the dingy Days
And this Bequest of Wings
Was but a Book -- What Liberty
A loosened spirit brings --