Epic Spring
Then the sun rises higher in the sky
and beams meet the cool damp moss
pitching steam into the rainforest,
peeling back the fury of winter,
dreary never-ending rain.
And the barred owl cries
during the afternoon
revealing its location –
May spring mating begin!
Reawaken our orchid selves,
thaw iced hearts
from threats of body and country.
Green, green, the real world
that livens our steps on dirt trails
not marble in legislative halls.
No, this is the building.
This is renewal.
Then the meadow bursts forth in robin song,
warmth rises from sunned new grass
and curls around my legs, torso and head,
engulfs me in ‘Finally.’
I contend, sustain – breathe.
Vanquish worry and pain.
The vast wilderness of creation
can buoy us all.
I pitch myself into Her deep waters.
Surely goodness swelling within
can expunge the evil
that threatens.
Pushcart Prize nominee Laura E. Garrard is also a CranioSacral Therapist on the Olympic Peninsula. Her poetry has appeared in journals like Bellevue Literary Review (Finalist), Amethyst Review, The Madrona Project, Silver Birch, Tidepools, and TulipTree Review (Merit Prize). Her chapbook, Paddling the Sweet Spot Between Life and Death, is forthcoming spring 2026 with Finishing Line Press. She writes a cancer poetry series, Poetry That Fits, on Penn Medicine’s OncoLink.org and holds a master’s in journalism with literary and women’s studies focuses. She worked for Country Music Foundation Press/Vanderbilt University Press, Thomas Nelson, and Rutledge Hill. LauraEGarrard.com
Amethyst Review 