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<p>Oh so lovely to read your poem Toni. It does awaken the Spring
within us so beautifully!</p>
<p><br>
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<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 3/20/2023 9:49 PM, Toni Bernbaum via
Thespiritexpress wrote:<br>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Thanks to those who requested another
look/see at the poem I read at the Equinox Ceremony. Thank you
ALL who were able to attend. What a sweet night it was.</p>
<div class="">With love and all blessings, Toni</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br class="">
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="font-size: 14px;" class="">SPRING
AT MY TOES ON THE
HAUL ROAD<o:p class=""></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class=""> </span><span
style="font-size: 14px;" class="">I
saw my first snake of the season</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">out
walking with bright air along the ocean,<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">searching
for whale spouts<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">and
answers to deep questions<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">but
instead, here <o:p class=""></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">at
my feet, the long rope <o:p class=""></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">of
a slender shape <o:p class=""></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">lays
quiet and still, <o:p class=""></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">though
slightly coiled<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">enough
to quicken my heart<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">in
the mystery of its presence. <o:p class=""></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class=""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">And
I knew, even as it wiggled into the grass<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">and
disappeared<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">as
if it never gave me its gift,<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">that
it did. As it has every year,<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">when
the snake shows herself to me, <o:p class=""></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">like
the shock of sudden snowy plum blossoms<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">in
our back yard, </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">spring
has officially awakened<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">beneath
my skin, <o:p class=""></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">quivering
with the bend of longer days </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class=""> I am
reminded again</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">of
the mystery of things, <o:p class=""></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">the
cycles of how seasons change <o:p class=""></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">and
the remembering of spring,<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">to
be the open invitation,<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">to
be wild again<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">renewed
and bursting<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class=""> like
the earth herself.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class=""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">After
this long wet winter of forgetting,<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">Out
I wiggle, breaking the egg of old lazy habits, <o:p class=""></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">I
rise with the daffodils<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">open
the heart of my golden cup to fill<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">with
new light of my own being.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">I
am all at once again encouraged <o:p class=""></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">to
renew my vow<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">to
greet again each day, <o:p class=""></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">the
promise of birthing<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">holy
precious possibilities, <o:p class=""></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">to
meet the greeting of the loyal dawn <o:p class=""></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">blessed
by its renewal<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">curious
and excited as to what might emerge <o:p class=""></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">from
this love…..blossoming<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class=""> as
me. </span><font class="" size="4"><o:p class=""></o:p></font></p>
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