03 March 2009

Fifteenth Anniversary Celebration


i had a date with spring
i didn’t know at all and
i was a little nervous
on our six-day first date
kissed almost immediately
and very immediately liked it
so i felt i should behave
differently with spring
the crows dress differently here
they sport grey-feathered
waistcoats
spring came to my door overdressed
in gaudy blue-purple rainclouds
sometimes through the folds
the sun shone like calls
from saint petersburg
i took spring around
to the backyard knowing that she
shares her mother’s bedroom
so i made breezy remarks
and hung my wet clothes
on the line
draped my mind
over my fingers
stroking her cheek
yet spring passed
among my shirts
and we carefully collected
a ladybug
off my dripping cuff

across from the train station
the garish soviet-era statue
has been taken down
and instead you may see
in bronze and marzipan
spring asking
karl henning to a hayride
i am the one muttering
about crows
and holding clothespins

(... monument)

4 comments:

Cato said...

Karl! In the words of Ronald Reagan, "you sure did marry up!"

Congratulations and wishes for many more 15th anniversaries!

Anonymous said...

Lovely photo, lovely poem, and lovely that you are around to mark 15 years. Wishing you (at least) 15 more!

J.Z. Herrenberg said...

Happy 15th anniversary, Karl!

Karl Henning said...

Thanks, gents!