March

By: Heather Nanni

March, you roar in like a lion and punch me in the gut.

Yours is a month of cruel contradictions.

The sun, it sits low in the sky and glares harshly enough to burn the eyes.

Yet, it does not produce enough heat to thaw those things

     those things so desperately in need of warmth.

The brown, lifeless grass reveals itself through piles of dirt-stained snow

     an elusive promise of new life trapped beneath dead blades.

You rule with false promise and deception.

During your reign, the white mounds of winter

     once burdensome, yet magical

            melt away

     leaving us with the sad, stark truth of what really lies beneath.