thoughts, words, deeds

what's a bucket list anyway?

Prompt: Write a Spring Bucket List.

Where I live, spring has flowers and rain in nearly equal measures. I saw the blooms of a dogwood tree, today, and took a picture that included late daffodils, wilting under the white blossoms. I saw a bush covered in fuchsia, which is a color I never thought occurred in nature until I lived here. I have since learned that it was named for a flower. It’s like when I finally saw something in real life that glowed neon pink (or close enough that it didn’t matter).

But I don’t have anything that I will specifically do this spring. I’ve gone to the zoo, which is more fun now than in a month, when it will be more crowded and hot enough to fry a brain. I have seen the flowers. I have started my allergy season with itchy eyes and a nose that threatens to run. I have seen the rain fall and the river rise and I believe that it might happen again as the snow keeps falling up north even though spring is here.

I don’t have exams this spring. I don’t have a thesis to write or essays to grade. That is uncomfortable, and I find myself looking for something to write. Not just the poems, but something that requires thought. I am reading. I am knitting. I am spending time watching the flowers and the people passing. I am going to the library. I’ve eaten Easter candy and bought new sandals and started wearing short sleeves under my jacket. I’ve been writing poetry, and some of that poetry has spring in it because it’s all around me, in my thoughts and through my fingers.

I’m not sure if that’s a bucket list—which is a series of goals. I don’t have specifically spring time goals. Except the same ones I’ve had all year—get a job. Write. Get out of the house. Read. Knit. Smell flowers. Listen to rain. Sleep. Write.