[In the spring time the stars . . .]
In the spring time the stars began looking for him
By summer time they had found him
By autumn time they had wounded him
so that the orange and red of his blood began
to leak from the sky onto the leaves of the trees
By winter time they had slain him
so that his white fat began to melt and drip
falling as snow all over the land
And then he would begin to rise again
first as sap in the trees
stretching higher and higher
until his back ached but
knowing he would not stop until
his black fur was hidden
deep among the unborn
behind the dark wall of the night sky
John Spaulding, “[In the spring time the stars . . .]” from Walking in Stone. Copyright © 1989 by John Spaulding. Reprinted by permission of Wesleyan University Press.
Source:
Walking in Stone
(Wesleyan University Press, 1989)