an ode to the sunshine through my bedroom window during springtime
by cori amato hartwig
(dedication)
to my mom, gina, who is all seasons at once.
this chapbook does not negate my love affair with the moonlight, the dignified silence of snow, or the respectable chaos of a storm.
every year, i forget about the coming of spring.
there is no novelty in spring because there is no novelty in resurrection.
(ode)
a void fills up with cherry blossoms & the sounds of bare feet padding on pavement. there sits an indescribable aching in all of my petals. a sonnet buried deep in my gut. an ageless sense of urgency. an anonymous longing. desire is the disease. she is riddled with impatience.
i dream in chamomile flowers & dandelion root. i forget about winter’s violence & settle into the softness of violet clouds. how could you forget about the earth beneath your feet when the poppies bloom in communes across our mother’s newborn landscape? the glorification of permanence ends at earth’s surface.
at her murky dusk, the sky morphs into a belly. she swallows the sun & its colors. days end just as quickly as seasons. long after the sun sinks, its touch lingers on my face like honey stuck to a spoon’s handle. today is just an echo of all of the days i’ve lived before. i wait for tomorrow.
(spring is)
softly pedaling a bicycle
remembering & forgetting childhood street names
a porch without a swing
resenting nine o’clock
learning palm lines of new lovers
rosewater & roulette
equinox with anticipation
asymmetry
using stationary i have been afraid to waste
a garden tended to in moonlight
gazpacho
half a cigarette
a freckle on my life’s skin
a lawsuit
an unwritten poem about winter
a kiss on the neck
goosebumps
a ribbon
a blindfold
making love with the blind half-drawn
a healed broken toe
tendon attached to bone
a drop of blood in a fresh loaf of bread
communion
eulogy
justice
kindness
god
matrimony
divorce
a one-way ticket
a delayed regret
spring knows no calluses
the spring sun is the reason i love yellow.
cori amato hartwig is a writer, musician, editor, comedian, and mental health activist. cori is also known as @manicpixiememequeen on instagram. she is a lover of the color yellow and dramatic faux fur coats. she is known to make lists in her sleep, take astrology very seriously, and overshare about her life through her art and memes. find more about cori on her website and blog, coriamatohartwig.com.
instagram: @cori_amato
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