Winter felt too long.
The world monochrome,
sapped of color.

We were trapped
beneath the heavy ceiling
of cruel news.

What can I wish on?
My heart is a candle,
flickering in the rain.

Hope, be
as unquenchable
as chives --

as effervescent
as dandelions gleaming
in a bed of green.

The trees are leafing out again at last.
Flying little chartreuse flags, crumpled
like wet laundry before they spread
and take up space.

If this were a love poem
I would say, I want you to take up space
and stretch toward the sun, exuberant
as the birds who can’t stop singing.

If this were a love poem
I could say anything at all
and you would know I really mean
all I want is for you to bloom.

If you like this poem, you might also like Texts to the Holy (Ben Yehuda Press).