Winter to Spring

The changing of the seasons, illustrated

The crows make cut-paper silhouettes in the snow.

Winter stalled. We kept undercover. We didn’t believe the news. The trees threw sticks while the kids built schools of blocks and taught plastic smiley faces to read. The sky was the color of paper.

At the edge of the solar system Pluto sends a cold-hearted Valentine.

The storm came and set up a thick crust of snow no good for forts or footprints. The shrews and mice tunneled beneath and occasionally ran across the road. I saw one in the evening and thought it was a dry leaf until the car lights picked up the shine in its eyes. Midwinter dirt and frost stuck to boots and coats, socks and gloves, hats and hands.

The houseplant delivers small bouquets of red.

Moment by moment the light returns. Underground the roots are waking up and neighbors tap the maples for sap. Gallons of sap boil down to a few cups of syrup. It is a long process. There will be a slow burst of new color soon. The trees offer bits of crimson out the tips of their branches. The houseplant extends its red messengers.

The daffodils turn their star faces up to the sky.

Yellow arrives first in small bundles — the crocuses then the daffodils rise up to open bright blooms. Graylight shifts to yellow, to green, to pink. On this we can count. Spring is in the air.

Spring Is In The Air!

(Previously: Fall to Winter)

Amy Jean Porter is an artist who lives in Connecticut.