Walking in New Hampshire in Early Spring
Jessica Purdy
The ice is out on the river
and crew boats dip their oars.
The air is never perfect until it is.
For that moment, my comfort
goes unnoticed until I’m cold again.
At road’s edge the shelf of rotted snow
melts from the ground up. Soot adheres
to the surface and plastic recycling
blown from someone’s bin is revealed
at the edge of the vernal pool.
I’ve heard there are people holding vigil
for frogs and salamanders trying
to cross the wet roads at night.
I imagine humans blocking the cars
with their own bodies, holding up
their hands saying STOP. And then
the frogs can hop across, their splashes
spotlit by headlights, to join a chorus
of their kind. But now, here comes
the cycling team practice. A dozen bicycles
rounding the bend together until
one student arrives by himself. Is he ahead
or behind? He is in no rush and looks
content to me. As if in this life there is no
competition. No shame in taking time.
and crew boats dip their oars.
The air is never perfect until it is.
For that moment, my comfort
goes unnoticed until I’m cold again.
At road’s edge the shelf of rotted snow
melts from the ground up. Soot adheres
to the surface and plastic recycling
blown from someone’s bin is revealed
at the edge of the vernal pool.
I’ve heard there are people holding vigil
for frogs and salamanders trying
to cross the wet roads at night.
I imagine humans blocking the cars
with their own bodies, holding up
their hands saying STOP. And then
the frogs can hop across, their splashes
spotlit by headlights, to join a chorus
of their kind. But now, here comes
the cycling team practice. A dozen bicycles
rounding the bend together until
one student arrives by himself. Is he ahead
or behind? He is in no rush and looks
content to me. As if in this life there is no
competition. No shame in taking time.
Jessica Purdy is the author of STARLAND and Sleep in a Strange House (Nixes Mate), The Adorable Knife (Grey Book Press), and You’re Never the Same (Seven Kitchens Press). Her poems and micro-fiction have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, Best Spiritual Literature, Best New Poets, Best of the Net, and Best Micro-Fiction. Her work appears in Thimble, -ette review, On the Seawall, Radar, Mom Egg Review, HOOT, Gone Lawn, and elsewhere. She lives in Exeter, New Hampshire.