Start Me Up  by Nancy Schatz Alton

“I’m in love, I’m in love, I’m in love.” -Anton Chekhov

I’m in love with the way the cottonwood trees

make lines: planted perfectly

a grid

that mimics the drum beat

that kickstarts my heart

pulses my blood

alive! alive! alive!

sky spits rain-snow, snow-rain, sleet muck

March marks winter long

I need drumbeat, tree line, grid

birdsong

plucked ripe moments

large laughter

Did you know kids laugh more than adults?

I’m a laugh spy, a woman seeking laughter

a woman working to love her world

I’m grabbing onto drumbeat, tree farm, birdsong

how my youngest makes the two of us

a comfort place

give me loud songs with strong beats

the quick sandwich of comfort

the surprising grid of tree farms

in a world that harvest forests

if joy isn’t easy

make me a joy hunter

a birdsong listener

a woman in search of satisfaction

between pockets of duty and loss

my deep belly laughter sings.