Welcome to April

April is National Poetry Month here in the United States, and poetry, people, makes my heart sing. I'm really going to try to share a poem a day here, and some may be repeats of poems I've shared before, on other blogs, so may be familiar to some of you. But this is my little way of advocating for poetry; I hope you find something to enjoy here this month.

If you have a favorite poem and would like to write a guest post this month sharing it and why you like it, please leave a comment with a way to contact you, or email me at SalamanderDreams21 at gmail dot com. A couple other special April events:

* April marks a year since I began this particular blog. I'm really going to try to celebrate that somehow, which means I'm pondering a giveaway. My first post was published on April 9, but I'm giving myself the whole month to figure this out.

* Poem In Your Pocket Day is on Thursday, April 26, this year. Just, you know, letting you know.

On to today's poem--chosen because the right poem can make me feel like I, too, am about to break into blossom.

A Blessing, by James Wright

Just off the highway to Rochester, Minnesota,
Twilight bounds softly forth on the grass.
And the eyes of those two Indian ponies
Darken with kindness.
They have come gladly out of the willows
To welcome my friend and me.
We step over the barbed wire into the pasture
Where they have been grazing all day, alone.
They ripple tensely, they can hardly contain their happiness
That we have come.
They bow shyly as wet swans. They love each other.
There is no loneliness like theirs.
At home once more,
They begin munching the young tufts of spring in the darkness.
I would like to hold the slenderer one in my arms,
For she has walked over to me
And nuzzled my left hand.
She is black and white,
Her mane falls wild on her forehead,
And the light breeze moves me to caress her long ear
That is delicate as the skin over a girl's wrist.
Suddenly I realize
That if I stepped out of my body I would break
Into blossom.

Copyright © 2005 James Wright. From Selected Poems.