Spring Hat

Spring officially starts tonight at 10-something Pacific time.

The calendar says spring will start tonight
though rain and cold may not encourage you
to go out dancing. At six when it gets light

go out and see the season all made new
the flowers popping fully into bloom
the sky redrawn in balmy shades of blue.

Or, if your weather’s ruled by cold and gloom,
then mark the day by dusting off a hat
and wearing it around your living room

as if the sun would burn you without that.
Your neighbors might deem you eccentric, so
let no-one see you other than the cat

and thus avoid a charge of "pas, très faux"
for wearing sunhats in four-foot-deep snow.

--for Miss Rumphius' poetry stretch

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