..if I stepped out of my body I would breakInto blossom.
                                                                                        – James Wright

In the palm of my hand
arrives spring
I stop the car for bursting wisteria
I can only take a photo
in the age of stay-at-home pandemic
I meet my friend in the parking lot
of Tractor Supply on 2^nd
she is low on toilet paper
and I give her six rolls in a bag
in exchange for some flour
We smile with our eyes,
she is wearing a mask in her car
I set the bag in her trunk
along with an Easter card
We won’t be gathering for brunch this year
the road sign on the way down says
Stay Safe, Social Distance, Shop Alone
even the casinos are closed
the billboard with our beautiful mountain
says Flatten the Curve
Tractor Supply has baby chicks
but I don’t go in
just drive the slow road home
traffic is light and no one is tailgating
or in a hurry
The cattle graze, horses are in the fields
and a guy with a cowboy hat
leads his horse out of the trailer.
Someone put out a “Baby Goats” sign
and the cottonwoods are catching up in green
For this moment
I hold spring
in my palm
home is two of us and two cats
we’re healthy
we know what’s for dinner
we eat on our patio
we can hold hands.

Image: Stuart Buck is a visual artist and award-winning poet living in North Wales. His art has been featured in several journals, as well as gracing the covers of several books. His third poetry collection, Portrait of a Man on Fire, is forthcoming from Rhythm & Bones Press in November 2020. He is the art editor for Konstellation Magazine and available for commissions all year round. He can be contacted via Twitter or E-Mail