Soft Spring arrives this moment
when children plead to stay outside.
“It’s too early, the sun is still out!”
Soft sigh of parents to deny it is so.
The easy float, day goes on and on;
sweet sound when Spring arrives,
“who remembers so many things?”
photo treatment Ward Maxwell
As if it were afternoon, clouds grey, pink,
magenta, radiant unfurl. Each moment pauses.
Heart skips a beat unnoticed — holds its breath
to possess the now, the beauty of the trembling
incomplete on the cusp of perfection.
Now, breathe again, life must continue.
Green sings, lawn sings, trees sing, birds sing, the bees
and flowers sing and why not? It is the end of Spring.
Last moments, last remnants, the smell of fresh mown
lawn sings of summer corn to come, echoes ripped green
husks, cling of silk, the exhale of harvest, this moment sings
counterpoint to what is to come — long nights, the wane of light.
Grand skies and golden corn cannot conceal the turn of the wheel;
Spring is for the young, and all the fruit of Summer cannot replace it.
Mountain banks of fuchsia stained thunderclouds
parade by with trumpet and lightning, grand crescendo
to accompany gardens bursting with harmony in one
ineluctable song.
The chorus and refrain so simple,
it began with bluster of lambs roaring like lions, and now
subtle dandelions march with lamb’s ears. The land sings.
This is the source of song. Who can resist? Not bird, or soil,
or any living thing, and certainly not the sky that joyous
resounds with promises of only good things, as you
Spring stately progress to your final coda.
<it’s very hard to find info online about Chris — he died during before the net. Chris was a collagist, artist, died in his 30’s, never given the chance to grow like he was going to — his last works were break through, he started to create sections of rooms as if you had cut them out, lamps cut at the base that worked, wallpaper, pictures in frames cut in half, etc. etc. I couldn’t find any samples of his work, but there are some images on the web, please search at your leisure — if you know of any links please add them. Here’s a couple of links:
http://www.pathwayoffame.ca/inductees/christophermacgee.html
on page 146: https://books.google.ca/books?id=1CFofvCmeZIC&pg=PA146&lpg=PA146&dq=chris+macgee+artist&source=bl&ots=ka2gUoPJpE&sig=xrGwNvBDZ7w2l0YebqMGV7IsyhA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CEIQ6AEwBjgKahUKEwiXj4v6tJrGAhUBND4KHezkDG4#v=onepage&q=chris%20macgee%20artist&f=false
his last work: https://books.google.ca/books/about/Christopher_R_MacGee_Fragments_of_the_Ur.html?id=nfIsNAEACAAJ&redir_esc=y
sky tranquil
colour of water
the wind favourable
warm and inviting
you struggle to fly, above
you a persistent nemesis,
strikes and strikes again
your weight encumbers you
it is all you can do to fly away
from this miniature fury
if you had time,
as you seek to climb,
you would admire your fierce
prey, willing and ready
to drive you into the ground
launch themselves fearlessly
into the void; live in a medium
where there is no solid ground,
no up or down, unless you die
death demands bravery
to take wing each day not knowing
if the feather will hold
if the wind will be cruel
will my enemies find me?
will my song woo a mate?
the heart of the bird beats
faster than ours, hotter, prouder
the bravery of birds is what
makes them fly when you
surprise them; they are not
afraid of you; they flee
to where they know
you fear to follow
There’s every crayon in the box,
every note in the scale;
the leech of colour that began in Fall,
drained through Winter, is in rout.
Every daub on the palette,
every dance complete
with grace and tragedy
and beautiful struggle.
The rainbow arch of spectrum
has reversed what has passed;
a triumphant colonnade of thunderclouds
parts to reveal an earth once again,
naked, clothed, radiant.
dark, disturbing early night
inks evening with shadow,
doubt, fear, water colour
brushstroke a stain, a wash,
a potent horizon
now, if you love Spring flowers,
you pray for the North wind
Peterborough Poets 