April Hares
Flashes of ears and backs twist above the shorn hay stalks. They dance off the winter dust, limbs loosened in their sun-frenzy. Not our garden friend, dozing with fat content. As soon as spring cracks free he claims his scrape beneath my morning gaze. He chews my apple tree bark beneath a snow-speckled coat, indifferent to the cold slaps of takatalvi* that haunt us well into May. I throw myself into the season. Soap suds and vinegar strip back months of grime, clearing space for me amidst the clutter. I stock up on elbow grease, beat the stale carpets until I ache. Open finger-printed windows, let it stream in, biting crisp. Impatient daffodils wake gnarled with frost, hoar-shattered stems at my fingertips. With the lean, wild-eyed shock of the beguiled hares, I’m itching to dig. *Finnish for the return of winter weather during springtime Bio: Gerry Stewart is a poet, creative writing tutor and editor based in Finland. Her poetry collection Post-Holiday Blues was published by Flambard Press, UK. Totems is to be published by Hedgehog Poetry Press in 2022. Her writing blog can be found at http://thistlewren.blogspot.fi/ and @grimalkingerry on Twitter. A Poetry Showcase for Gerry Stewart
Fevers of the Mind 