Snow retreats up mountain walls
pulled on a timed tether

Grasses and brush spring back
to vertical
shiver in numinous light

I smell spring long before color
flushes tree and ground

Tentative breaths still redolent
with winter’s waning chill
ride over my skin

Whispering a promise of warmth
Inhale gently
gaining green.

from the poetry collection “Snow Globe” by Diane Eagle Kataoka