Her Name Was Spring

By Julianna Ma

Posted on May 1, 2023

Cover Image Title: Bloom Symphony

Cover Image by: Natcha (Inle) Kunkongkaphan

Classification: Photography

Specifications: Resized from its original 4,032 x 3,024

Year: 2023

When she came to me

I could barely recognize her from eons past.

Yet her shy smile and warm eyes thawed ice to water,

And I did remember what spring felt like.

She came to me despite the fog, despite the snow.

She came to me, like a seabird comes to roost.

She put down roots and made birds sing,

Yet in my ears the cold still rings.

Her touch was sweeter than honey

Her gentle embrace made me forget about pain.

Her laugh lit up the sky,

Yet every night her sunlight wanes.

Persephone returns to the land of the dead,

And winter follows in her stead.

I can feel it in my chest,

A silent throb of freezing regret.

Aching bones and gnashing teeth,

The piercing air and numb sweat.

Shadows grow hungry, swallowing all spring-made light.

A sky full of empty void,

clouds vapid and limp.

Vicious showers of bitter ice;

Slumbering sheets of snow.

Why keep on going without her glow?

Because, in the end, I know

She will be back.

Descriptions:

This free verse poem depicts winter and nighttime blues–feelings of hopelessness and melancholy that many people experience when sunlight is scarce. With its longer days and warmer weather, spring is personified as gentle and comforting, whereas winter remains an unpredictable force of nature. The speaker, currently experiencing this, seeks the relief of spring because it represents a temporary end to their most painful emotions and physical aches.

[ * The End * ]

[Editor's Notes: Through this piece, the author of "Her Name Was Spring" shows their nuanced interpretations of spring and winter, which are almost polars of each other. This poem also addresses and relates to the audience by recognizing how some people's moods change with the seasons giving room for seasonal depression to roll in. This poem is littered with imagery, metaphors, and personification enhancing it further. - Writing Editor: Kimberly Nguyen]