The tulips are blooming,

so I guess that means it’s spring. 

The pollen chokes me, 

these warming days choke me, 

and I long for the bitter cold that 

made me feel alive.

Now

I feel like a fat 

housecat unable to do 

anything but lounge in the sunlight, suspended 

in this tepid existence, 

in this old house,

feeling time ooze around me, 

like sap filling my mouth, 

covering me up, fossilizing me 

in amber. 

 

Olivia McKnight