April 9, 2023 at Winterthur which is the legacy of Henry Francis du Pont, 1880-1969, American
Celebration
Denise Levertov, American born England, 1923-1997
from the posthumously published This Great Unknowing – Last Poems
Brilliant, this day – a young virtuoso of a day.
Morning shadow cut by sharpest scissors,
deft hands. And every prodigy of green –
whether it’s ferns or lichens or needles or impatient points of buds on spindly bushes –
greener than ever before. And the way the conifers
hold new cones to the light for the blessing,
a festive right,
and sing the oceanic
chant the wind

transcribes for them!
A day that shines in the cold
like a first-prize brass band swinging along
the street
of a coal-dusty village, wholly at odds
Parade on Hammond Street, 1935, oil on canvas. Allan Rohan Crite, 1910-2007, American. The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC
with the claims of reasonable gloom.
Oh! Heaven on the ground, in the soil and under the marching feet. Quite a display of spring spirit and abundance. Thank you for capturing moments of that and sending it off to quieter Easter celebrants.