Nate Pritts
POEM BEFORE SPRING
I love the winter
for the immense silence of it.
I like to get buried so far
inside my own head
that I stop believing I’ll ever recover.
But today
on the trees in this poem
I saw a barrage of green
sensuous & downy
& my feet were my feet
again remembering
how to dance
I remember how to fight
how to fuck like a champion.
Sometimes I believe I’m living
a virtuous life but when I look back
I realize it was only accidental
not actually making choices
& just letting things happen.
Sometimes I sin
& my excuse is
that the moonlight got me confused.
O brother I’m in freefall
& some surprising things
are happening in my heart.
I know it’s difficult to start over again
but maybe it’s necessary 64 | BL
to tear it down every few years
or so. O darling,
this is what I do when I can’t
just reach out & touch you.