“Whose flame/Is the imprisoned lightning.”
—Emma Lazarus, from “The New Colossus”

In a slow return to daylight after hours, she winks
at March and flirts

with her own promises to wake up
a tiny piece

of dirt. Hers is an impassioned lightning
that could strike

even now—before spring.

* also from Emma Lazarus’ “The New Colossus.”