LESLEY WHEELER

Tag: spring

  • Errant in the Bewilderness

    If I told you I’m just screwing around this week, I’d be exaggerating. This is exam week after our twelve-week winter term, so there’s lots of grading, as well as chores involving grants, event programming, etc. Liberation from the rigors of my former schedule, though–during which I was trying to do much of the same…

  • A mouth of purple crocus

    One of the first sonnets I wrote, as an undergraduate, contained the lines: “A mouth of purple crocus opens through/ the snow, wild to speak the store beneath. / It carries coin.” I don’t remember the rest, although the poem is probably in a bin in the attic somewhere. The lines have been running through…

  • News flash: in April, poet feels moody

    News flash: in April, poet feels moody

    Spring’s been happening in fits and starts–blossoms one minute, wind-strewn petals the next. I walk a nearby trail most mornings, and on Tuesday, Woods Creek churned and roared from heavy rains; parts of the path were massive puddles, and the lowest bridge was half-underwater. The next day was frigid; others have been balmy and still.…

  • The spring beauty are starting to bloom

    My body and brain tell me it’s December. At work I’ve been teaching, grading, going to meetings, reading files, doing paperwork, conducting interviews; the rest of the time I’ve been making lists, shopping, cleaning, cooking, digging out wool sweaters, and wondering when I’m going to get the house decorated. The sun rises late and vanishes…

  • Intention / haplessness

    As usual, I’m tripping over my own sleepy feet into National Poetry Month, knowing I should have a WRITING PLAN but instead feeling indecisive, half-awake. April is when W&L’s winter term ends in a flurry of meetings, receptions, and papers; exam week and spring break, which are relatively calm, occupy the middle; and by the…

  • Buried bulb juts up a spear

    More sleet and snow in the forecast, ugh, even as here in western Virginia, snowdrops and crocus and even a few daffodils show the shivering woods in bright spring clothes. I feel winter-locked too. Things have been germinating underground that I can’t talk about much: some hopes that have busted, some that may be hardier.…

  • I’m sorry I’m abandoning you all

    All it takes is a wobble of ankle or attention— the other racers fly ahead and I’ll never catch up. This is a stupid way to approach a cherry blossom. With fear, I mean. What if, I ask my spouse, I waste this gift of two weeks? I will have betrayed my family. Counting games…