for Rori Michele, my princess of every season

April wears the sun like silk,
a girl in swirls of yellow folds
that drape her days
in lingering light—
as she steals minutes from the night.

Like Cinderella dreaming dresses
cleaning her step-sisters' messes,
April too has work to do—
washing winter from the world
so dreams of daffodils come true.

Her sisters May and June deride
April for her moody swings,
impatient of meanderings—
they want summer! want it now!
want the sun to scrape and bow!

But April takes her time with things.
In fields muddy with melting snow,
steps uncertain, progress slow,
she pauses, clouds of skirt lifting—
and gives to all a peek of spring.

This poem first appeared in the 2017 Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets calendar.
Used here with the author’s permission.