Ann Farley

When Life Comes

—after Mary Oliver’s, When Death Comes

When life comes I will be
the hungry bear after the thaw,
crawling from a cave of cold and dark

as snow and ice retreat
and color creeps back bit by bit,
you will find me in full feast–

first snow drops, then crocus,
yellow and purple, daffodils
in gilded gowns, and tulips!

You will find me prone, mouth
agape, greedy in my want, time
hovering in dewy curiosity.

I look on everything up close,
consider each petal possibility, no matter
how common, all fragrant

and filling, a sensory symphony.
Spring reborn! Baby-fist buds burst,
yellow-green leaves unfurl.

How is it possible all this
has returned, more full
it seems, than the year before?

By the time field daisies
bloom in profusion along the roadway,
I will have shed my bear ways,

no longer hungering with want
but on my back, satiated,
sniffing and sighing

into the wind, watching clouds
roll away, waiting for a sweep of violet
to usher in the stars.

Ann Farley is happiest outdoors, preferably at the beach. Her poems have appeared in Timberline Review, Third Wednesday, Peregrine, Verseweavers, KOSMOS, and others. Her first chapbook, Tell Her Yes, was published by The Poetry Box in April, 2022. She lives in Beaverton, OR.