Sunday* Poem #4: Viriditas

*On a Monday. A poem for the first day of spring. Plus a little bit of book news!

Hello friends. It’s a Sunday poem on a Monday because Daylight Savings Time, amirite? To all the U.S. folks who don’t live in Arizona or Hawaii, I see you on that struggle bus. But hey, it’s technically more appropriate to share today’s poem on the spring equinox! This one doesn’t show up in either book, because it’s a fresh new poem. Once again, the sound quality isn’t great, but I’ve got a little audio reading below if you prefer to listen.

Tending the Tree of Life by Hildegard of Bingen (12th century)

Viriditas

It happens slowly
then all at once —

	those few extra drops
	of sunlight at dusk,
	the whisper of silver
	mist on the lake,
	the riot of songbirds
	scouting for nests,
	tiny buds opening
	like unclenching fists.

For today,
the scales of darkness
and light find a balance.
The longed-for greening
spreads like a cloak
over the softening earth.

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As I’ve been working on this new book, I’m reminded over and over that poetry — and pretty much all art, for that matter — doesn’t happen alone. You could be the most isolated solo genius ever in your awesome tower of art, but you’ll still need to forage for the seeds of art out there in the real world.

So, here are some of the seeds for this new little spring poem.

This was written for Kyra Hinton’s bottled magic moments spring equinox collection! Kyra is a wizard with ink and imagination, and it was an honor to contribute a poem for one of her collections. I mean, look at them. 🤩

Of course, I hoped to include a little bit of these bottles in my poem. The line “the whisper of silver / mist on the lake” is a nod to the middle bottle, Morning Mist on the Lake, and Dawn Court (far right) reminds me of the “extra drops / of sunlight at dusk.” I wish I could’ve got a rainstorm in there for the third bottle, but ah well.

The title came first. It comes from Hildegard of Bingen’s idea of viriditas or “greening theology.” “The longed-for greening / spreads like a cloak” is a small nod to the Legend of St. Brigid’s Cloak / her Celtic goddess counterpart’s association with spring. These are nerdy rabbit holes that I unfortunately don’t have time to dive into right now, ha.

And, apologies to U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón, but "tiny buds opening / like unclenching fists” is absolutely inspired by her poem “Instructions on Not Giving Up.” Go read it, it’s amazing.

So, there you have it. An ecosystem of influences and inspirations.

I sat on the title for days, wondering if I’d be able to get a new poem together in time for Kyra. Then one day I was driving home from the chiropractor (as one does in this stage of life) and the middle section started to form. I frantically tried to dictate a note and a voice memo to my phone so I wouldn’t forget them, then sketched the whole thing out in the evening.

Moral of the story: read poems, chase nerdy rabbit holes, and be friends with all the artists. Happy Spring. 💚

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✨ Book News Book News Book News ✨

Beneath the Flood Pre-orders are live! I got an email from my publisher this morning, and I wanted to share the news with you first! More to come on other launch shenanigans soon, but for now, go ahead and grab a copy if you want!