By Carolyn Pinet
I look up "Easter" for the first time
and find "Old English, perhaps Northhumbrian,"
also "Eastre," or Proto German, with the
meaning of "austron," dawn.
meaning of "austron," dawn.
It's about "toward sunrise and shining," I'm thinking.
I have always depended on the sound of the word,
unworried about its roots -
after all, the associations could be accidental
and fortuitous: think about "ease,"
the open vowels, the glide of the "ees" and
the lingering of the final "r."
Now picture the hunts for painted eggs,
birds emerging from cracked shells,
blooming flowers with rabbits hopping about.
It's true we are welcoming spring even after
dark days and loss. The weather lurches
back and forth, just like we do, from Friday to
Sunday: the clouds gather and thicken,
then the sun emerges and the spring light prevails.
Look: in the moist, rich earth,
behold, here are shoots about to birth!
