A single forsythia flower
blooms behind the house
Squirrels flick tails
rustle brown leaf carpets
as if mating comes next
not sleep
I perspire, flapping jacket extra
in March-heavy humidity
An improbable three robins
untimely as spring in the air
hop into undergrowth
They know something I do not
or will soon freeze
Hours pass without explanation
Karen Arnold, literary gypsy, was Poet-in-Residence at Montpelier Cultural Arts Center, Laurel, MD; creates/moderates veterans reading and discussion groups sponsored by Maryland Humanities; has taught at universities in the US, Sweden, and Norway. Her work appears in Looking for Disappearance (Finishing Line Press 2023), Trajectory, Connecticut Review, and Farmer-ish.
