February First: Disturbing Plants

February First

There is a tree on National Street,

one block over,

whose twigs are swollen with leaf buds

that have begun to open.

On an off ramp to interstate 64,

great clumps of forsythia have already bloomed,

in protest or ignorance ,

I just don't know.

Even the four story tall tulip poplars

behind our little bungalow are brazenly

displaying tiny pale yellow flowers, daring

spring to arrive.

And I, disturbed by these events,

still feel cold and tightly closed like

the sycamore and the fig trees.