Thaw

Paper-thin ice
juts from the curb.
Delicate,
like sheets of sugar glass,
it glistens in the sun.

Sodden white clumps drop
from trees – splash!
into slushy puddles
in the yard.

Slick branches drip. Drip. Drip.
Snowmelt trickles down roofs.
Street gutters gurgle and gush.
The neighborhood burbles merrily
like a clear mountain stream.

I wrote this on March 1, 2012 in Minnesota, and originally named it “March 1.”  This year in Minnesota, “May 1” may be a more appropriate title.