Date: April 19, 2026
Location: Cream & Amber, Hopkins
Prompt: Finding the joy in something ordinary

We have not seen many warm days in April
but my heart is thawing anyway.

Like the ground
slowly casting off its frozen armor
rousing from sleep amid longer days.

Roots are stirring
freed from their ice shackles;
Sap flows with the rhythm of the
hours, minutes, seconds;
Buds appear on twigs
promising leaf and bloom and fruit.

I stand with bare feet
to the chilled earth
a warming sun on my skin
and the energy of the waking world
sings through my limbs.

Tomorrow I will plant.
Tomorrow I will grow.
Today I will dream.