Alabama Spring

A Poem by David C. Roberson

This is the sort of poetry that comes from an allergically affected young man who decides whimsy is the best approach when writing about the noise, heat, and meat of springtime in Alabama. Everything is waking up all at once. Theoretically beautiful, but mildly suffocating.

Alabama Spring
03/30/2006
by David C. Roberson

Spring forth,
Oh, spring!
With pollen bombs for dropping,
The cavalry’s not stopping
Attacks on my airflow.

The Bama day—
It swelters!
The thirsty dogs are lapping,
Our idle fingers tapping
As time begins to slow.

Oh, birth!
Rebirth!
With shuddered breath, we’re breathing!
Our chests are quickly heaving!
Collapse in afterglow.

Oh, love.
Sad love
Engulfs our mortal voices,
Influences our choices.
The light at Pass and Stow
Is gone; we let it go.

Free,
So free!
Unfettered hearts, they flutter,
And fettered hearts are smothered!
The latter better, though—
For who should choose the burden
Of a lonely heart to tow?

Serene:
The green!
The pastel-painted nature,
The lively nomenclature,
A budding change of scene!
The birds return to sing
As lovers grope and cling
In the warmth and shadow-quelling,
Bright blue, boundless darkness-felling
Flux, what seems to all compelling—
A time of new flight’s feathered wing:
The lonesome, loving listlessness
Of Alabama Spring.