Spring Came Early
by Billy Howell-SinnardThe Writer's Block
Honorable Mention, February 2016
Judged by Lee Slonimsky
While plum blossoms
weep in the wind
you walk over the mountain.
It accepts you fully.
Its heart is yours.
The snow at its peak
is the letter you left behind.
I look for you
through the clouds
a shadow
rising higher and higher.
I haven’t eaten for two days.
In the center of this poem’s vitality is a wonderfully straightforward personification of the mountain—a mountain spilling over with acceptance—and quite the lover! And then, what a graceful touch with snow and a letter. “Spring Came Early” expresses the insight that in poetry less can often be more, enhanced by a cast of characters that includes wind, clouds, and an all important shadow. --Lee Slonimsky