Janice D. Soderling has previously had a poem in Autumn Sky Poetry. Her poetry, fiction and translations are widely published in print and online journals. Recent or forthcoming work can be read at Anon, Acumen, Barefoot Muse, Blue Unicorn, The Centrifugal Eye, The Chimaera, Frostwriting, Innisfree, Literary Mama, Loch Raven Review, Lucid Rhythms, Mezzo Cammin, Nthpostiion, Other Poetry, Poemeleon, Right Hand Pointing, Tipton Poetry Review and Umbrella Journal. Janice was born in the United States but lives in Sweden.

Plaint

     by Janice D. Soderling

I will meet you in the spring, my dearest heart,
when speckle-throated thrushes sing,
Deep in the woods where purple shadows chart
                  the sweet advance of evening.

Or in the summer if that suits you better,
when little thrushes learn to fly.
Or when the autumn mists grow colder, wetter,
                  and little grasses learn to die.

But if in winter still you do not come
when bird nests break to stick and straw,
when brownish seeds in snow lie hard and numb,
                  I think you will not come at all.

© 2008 Janice D. Soderling