It’s been a long winter in Madison, Wisconsin. But at last, spring has sprung. All week, I’ve been able to take long walks without wearing my Nanook of the North gear or looking over my shoulder for marauding packs of wolverines!

Here’s one of the best spring poems I know, encouraging us to break out of all “the dark winter prisons” of our lives. “Stop holding back the blossoming!” says Maya Spector.

In times past, when I felt imprisoned by something, I simply assumed that the door was locked. Now when I feel trapped, I give the door a push — it’s amazing how often it flies open!

To quote Spector again,

“Why make a cell your home
when the door is unlocked
and the garden is waiting for you?”

Whatever may feel like it has you locked in, it’s spring! Get out into that garden and start planting the seeds of new life!

Jailbreak
by Maya Spector

It’s time to break out —
Jailbreak time.
Time to punch our way out of
the dark winter prison.

(Excerpted. Read the full poem here.)