Eyelids' Flutter

since feeling is first

since feeling is first
who pays any attention
to the syntax of things
will never wholly kiss you;

wholly to be a fool
while Spring is in the world

my blood approves,
and kisses are a far better fate
than wisdom
lady i swear by all flowers. Don't cry
--the best gesture of my brain is less than
your eyelids' flutter which says

we are for eachother: then
laugh, leaning back in my arms
for life's not a paragraph

And death i think is no parenthesis

- ee cummings

Come Faster Spring!

Awake, thou wintry earth -
Fling off thy sadness!
Fair vernal flowers, laugh forth
Your ancient gladness!
~Thomas Blackburn, "An Easter Hymn"




It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade.
~Charles Dickens

Hello Spring

“In the spring, at the end of the day,
you should smell like dirt."
Margaret Atwood

“April is the cruelest month,
breeding lilacs out of the dead land,
mixing memory and desire,
stirring dull roots with spring rain.”
T.S. Eliot

“Every year, back comes Spring, with nasty little birds yapping their fool heads off and the ground all mucked up with plants.”
Dorothy Parker

“It's spring fever.... You don't quite know what it is you DO want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!”
Mark Twain

“Sitting quietly, doing nothing, spring comes,
and the grass grows by itself”
Zen Proverb

4 Sunsets, Oh Boy

Ever since Spring HIT Vermont with the force of a semi-truck, inhabitants have been shedding clothes and spending every spare moment of their time out of doors - and I am one of them.

With the exception of a Friday drive to Barre, I have been getting around town on my trusty stead, my Pee Wee Herman knock-off red bicycle. She needed some air in her tires after many long winter months of misuse - I sort of know how she feels - but now she is ready to go.

Between rehearsals, blogger meet-ups, freelancing, vlogging and social engagements, there has not been as much outdoor time as I would like. But I take a moment here and there to soak in the sunshine and the delicious smell of spring.

And as luck would have it, I got to watch the sunset FOUR times this weekend! HELL YEAH! Last night was the best one at Adam and Sara's house on the lake with grilled meat and a lawn that lead right out to the water. Wow, sign me up. And welcome back spring, please never leave us ever, ever again...

Breath of Trees, Grass and Flowers

[water]

If the
drip - drip - drip
falling from the leaves -
summer
spring time
fall as heavy
wears the ground away from the roots-
turns the hardest smooth
and tortures people to insanity...

Then proof is had
things as soft as lips
(and touching skins)
wear out, leave marks and distress.

Either way, the suns of silent operation,
the moons sweet light reflection silence
the breath of trees, grass and flowers...

-attack first for immediate compensation
-war is affliction.
-casual.

- steven hazen williams from anti-kirchenlied
About Anti-kirchenlied (A steal at $4):

The collection travels through Vermont’s rivers, mountainsides, sheds, country houses and backyards while taking detours through confused bedrooms, late nights in the dark and daydreams of musical perfection. Williams’ playful approach to language blends casual observation, imagination, and field-reporting into dense chunks of wistful whimsy – a window into the poet’s impressions of what is, what couldshouldbe(but isn’t) and what will most likely happen, given the way things usually work out.

Anti-kirchenlied will leave you appreciating the people who yell outside your house and steal records out of your car while reminding you how much you can get out of waking up before sunrise to take a long drive on the interstate for work. It’s a collection that provokes laughter and resignation, makes you think a little bit more about the kinds of things you think, and in the end encourages you to trade in all of your experiences for comfort and trust.

Steve Williams is a rock and roll poet with a heart of gold. Anti-kirchenlied is his best book yet.