Scene: Wrong Equinox
(Vernal tidings gone awry; the beat at the start of the changing tide when one wave comes in just a little too far, then another and another)
Birds fluffed their chests and flew up and down in panicked vertical lines
Cats stood stock still and yowled
The town’s best fortune-teller lay in the town square and cried
Mary-making-soup let her stock boil dry watching the sun rise and set
Lois-in-bed pulled up the covers, filled with dread
Astronomers knocked on Church doors
Susan muttered to Kelly who muttered to Francis, who wiped her hands on her apron
The Easter Bunny came and went
People rushed about, too distracted to notice any eggs
Then Easter came and the eggs had gone off
Everyone went for their chamber pots
missed the Church service
“Wrong equinox,” Gregory said at last
to empty pews.
screne from Libretto by Claire Geddes Bailey, for Canzone at Unit 17
