Poetry Review Special Feature: "Spring Hopes Eternal" by John Reinhart

Songs of Eretz Poetry Review is pleased to present "Spring Hopes Eternal" by John Reinhart.  Another of Mr. Reinhart's poems was featured in the Review yesterday, where a brief biography may be found http://eretzsongs.blogspot.com/2014/11/poetry-review-special-feature-works-by.html.

Spring Hopes Eternal

John Reinhart

The snow silences the melody so that if we listen

we can hear harmony in sleeping trees and icicles,

hibernating dreams and remembered promises…

Out of these depths, cracking the ice,

a seed introduces itself to sunlight,

shatters the surface of waiting, green with purpose,

and in this moment the fragile spiderweb of frost

melts, feeding the fledgling intention, infusing life

into tomorrow, into dreams, into hopes, into spring,

where blossoms blossom for immortal instants

and die into full, rich fruit of untainted light

shown through earth’s prism, the promise of a promise.

Poet's Notes:  I play with words. As spring crept through the last sloppy wet snow into blossoms, I pondered the phrase "hope springs eternal." I realized that the statement can be rearranged and remain true: "spring hopes eternal." Spring is the season where the coming year's hopes bud in naive green, reaching innocently toward the sun. All creation breathes a sigh of relief from winter's passing and looks outward to spring.

Some poems write themselves. I find that when I start with a fixed concept like "spring hopes eternal," I have a harder time finding the poem from that seed. I ground this poem out of several earlier versions. I worked hard to find the audible harmonies between the words, trying to call forth the first chirrups of spring.

Editor's Note:  The first stanza is a powerful poem by itself, reminiscent of the best of the short Japanese forms.  The description of the sounds in the silence is breathtaking.  While the subject of the poem is perhaps a bit tired, I find this treatment of it uplifting.  "Spring Hopes Eternal" was first published in 94 Creations Literary Journal issue #6.