Otherwise

I got out of bed
on two strong legs.
It might have been
otherwise. I ate
cereal, sweet
milk, ripe, flawless
peach. It might
have been otherwise.
I took the dog uphill
to the birch wood.
All morning I did
the work I love.
At noon I lay down
with my mate. It might
have been otherwise.
We ate dinner together
at a table with silver
candlesticks. It might
have been otherwise.
I slept in a bed
in a room with paintings
on the walls, and
planned another day
just like this day.
But one day, I know,
it will be otherwise.

--Jane Kenyon

Jailbreak

It’s time to break out –

Jailbreak time.

Time to punch our way out of

the dark winter prison.

Lilacs are doing it

in sudden explosions of soft purple,

And the jasmine vines, and ranunculus, too.

There is no jailer powerful enough

to hold Spring contained.

Let that be a lesson.

Stop holding back the blossoming!

Quit shutting eyes and gritting teeth,

curling fingers into fists, hunching shoulders.

Lose your determination to remain unchanged.

All the forces of nature

want you to open,

Their gentle nudge carries behind it

the force of a flash flood.

Why make a cell your home

when the door is unlocked

and the garden is waiting for you?

--Maya Spector