Ghazal for Spring
by Bobby LeFebre
For now, let us hang our pain and worry on the closest hook
and admire the army of tulips stretching outside, it is spring.
If you will, turn off the news and be still for a moment,
listen to the loud sound of silence that sings, it is spring.
The coyotes and deer and bear have begun to reclaim the land
the water is clearer, the air fresh, the fish are swimming, it is spring.
Mother Earth is shedding the old like a snake, curando heridas abiertas
showing us the love in sacrifice and growth; que hermoso, verdad? Es Primavera.
Chase the smile welling inside you, even if you feel that it’s fleeting,
it is proof the sun always has your back, it is spring.
Do not walk around the promise of new beginnings as if tomorrow will
foolishly repeat the mistakes of yesterday; seeds are sprouting, it is spring.
Forget not, there is a warm body in front of each shadow,
a heart beating, a mind conspiring, a spirit opening, it is spring.
This morning, entangled bodies made love as the cold rain fell softly outside,
physical distance morphing into metaphor; climax, equinox, it is spring.
The wind is howling outside, the hood is a siren that’s not sounding,
I’m contemplating what will blossom from all of this, it is spring.
Bobby LeFebre is an award-winning writer, performer, and cultural worker fusing a non-traditional multi-hyphenated professional identity to imagine new realities, empower communities, advance arts and culture, and serve as an agent of provocation, transformation, equity, and social change. His work has appeared in The New York Times, Huffington Post, The Guardian, American Theater Magazine, NPR, and Poets.Org. In 2019, LeFebre was named Colorado’s 8th Poet Laureate, making him the youngest and first person of color to be appointed to the position in its 100 year history.
