Scratch-Off Spring

If you like Spring,
Maryland weather
is like a scratch-off
lottery ticket:

your lucky penny
may wipe away
the snow for one week,
and a cluster
of tulips appear.

the sweltering heat
of summer
be interrupted by zephyrs,
cool as Canada.

It is a poor man's delight,
these. anomalies
of paradise.

Another type
of unearthing,
the treasure of treason
against a bitter
or blistering season.

And fall is a second
vernal equinox here,
the leaves as colorful
as flowers,
the honeyed air full of
pleasant smells and feels.

When you can wear
sweaters and sandals
at the same time.

But the real gift
is the sweepstakes of surprise,
the bucolic breaks
that visit
like white-winged angels

at any given time
of the year.