Urban Spring

Cherry

By Philip Sidney

Sat, 07 Mar 2015
  • 5032 reads
24 comments
 

A little sun warms the bones,

loosens an inner spring

wound so tight it might snap.

 

Something dormant wakes

a memory of earth and air,

green and song and being

 

even here, in the concrete tunnel

beneath the city, creeping, beetling

with early morning traffic, ant-like to work.

 

‘Urban bees do better’

says an expert voice on the car radio

‘less poison in the city’.

 

Breathe in fumes from the car in front,

anesthetise thought and feeling -

think not too deeply, life will find a way.

 

Move upwards from the dark,

feel the subtle unfurling of self

reaching for light, reaching for -

 

 

From the car, stopped at lights,

watch a pair of magpies build a spikey nest

in a skeleton tree, a tower block backdrop.

 

Two crows, bill and coo in bird love,

oblivious to the cars below

parked, rigid with resentment.

 

Certificate 12
Poem
Necropolis
Inspiration Point (work that responds to our weekly writing cue)

Comments

Submitted by tibi popovici on

Urban nature preparing for spring, but this one:

"‘Urban bees do better’

says an expert voice on the car radio

‘less poison in the city’."

made me laugh in some way that we usually stuck on cars everyday missing the details around, but perhaps the last sentence is the most representative here, bringing so many different understandings.

Submitted by Philip Sidney on

Thanks tibi smiley modern living can make it difficult to connect with the natural world.

Submitted by celticman on

yeh, cars do sometimes seem rigid and resentful. Not sure that's what's called projection. Nice one. 

 

Submitted by Philip Sidney on

Thanks celticman. :)

Submitted by Mark Say on

Simple imagery that conveys a lot about that subtle change in mood that affects many of us as spring arrives. And I like the juxtaposition between the images of nature and the urban underworld. Well done Philip.

 

Submitted by Philip Sidney on

Thanks Mark :)

Submitted by Bee on

There's no stopping nature... Great poem, Philip. 

Bee

Submitted by Philip Sidney on

Thanks Bee smiley

Submitted by Insertponceyfre... on

lovely interpretation of the IP - thank you! It's been even more Spring-like here today!

 

Submitted by Philip Sidney on

Thanks insert, a bit mixed where I am, but it's creeping up on us. smiley

Submitted by VeraClark on

Dark meets light when spring edges in and you've nailed it.

 

Submitted by Philip Sidney on

Thank you Vera. smiley

Submitted by luigi_pagano on

A classy write, H.

Luigi

 

Submitted by jeand on

Hi Helen

So nice to have another of your poems to read. Your imagery is mechanical and urban but little touches here and help with a bit of spring.  Beautifully done.

Jean

Jean Day

Submitted by skinner_jennifer on

A great poem with so many observations of nature within our urban world.

Jenny.

 

Submitted by Philip Sidney on

Thank you Luigi, Jean and Jenny! smiley

Submitted by skinner_jennifer on

Hi, it's Jenny again. I was just wondering if you would mind me calling you Helen, only I noticed it seemed to be your name.

Jenny.

 

Submitted by Philip Sidney on

I'd be delighted, Jenny.  I just called myself Philip Sidney as that was the first name that came to mind when I joined abctales, never thought I'd be on the site most days!

Submitted by agnosticnun on

Loved it. Took a sometimes tired topic and made it new.

Kristi

Submitted by Philip Sidney on

Thank you Kristi!

Submitted by hilary west on

I think you've said what we all feel., and you've said it very well !!!

 

Submitted by Philip Sidney on

Thank you smiley

Submitted by loquaciousicity on

An interesting perspective!

Submitted by Philip Sidney on

Thank you Terry! :)