serenade
to this march day
of unlikely ardor
burning the senses
brown.
unbuttonings
city-wide.
unloosing all
the summer armies
prematurely;
town-ladies,
open-toed and
hoop-earringed.
hazy sky
smiles benign,
spills time.
blessings on
the taxi drivers,
hungry-eyed, and
meagre busboys
smiling, sweeping
deli doors
of sidewalk dust,
and every shirt-sleeved,
melting executive
watching me
watch myself
in the windows.
(March 4, 1974)
Happy Spring!
