Poems for the Very Beginning of Spring, 2022
Skunk Cabbage
[The very first “flowers” to appear in the woods, in wet places]
What fun to be a skunk cabbage!
Smells are one of Life’s delights.
Out in the bog
I could be a tiny center
unfolding into a huge grand leaf
reeking through with greenness,
ever richer,
ever smellier.
Life makes many dainty whispers through the woods.
But bursting through decay,
I’d chase the winter doldrums
with my sensual call. I’d shout around
“Wake up! Wake up, you sleeping woods.
Come alive again
and feel and
smell
and play.
It’s time to start all over once again!
Spring Beauty
[tiny early white flowers with pink stripes from the middle; esp. found around trees]
Spring Beauty,
most delicate of all spring flowers,
early to appear,
how lovely to be her!
Small and sweet and dear,
my five-petalled face with pink mint stripes
will smile up like a shy girl-child
at the awesome world around.
Simple and friendly,
I will open to the sun.
My thin stem will dance with the smallest breeze.
Never alone, I’ll live in a world of gentle friends
like me,
all of us playing
in the sweet spring sun and wind and rain.
O beauty protected,
O tenderness extreme,
I will speak to all the world
of the great sensitivity
of The Source of all Life.
The First Fly of Spingtime
[I have another poem: The last Fly of Summer]
The first fly of springtime,
I welcome you!
My adversary through the heat,
you bode of sunshine now,
warmth
and fun for all.
Right now, my housebound
winter heart says
Yay!
We’ve come awake again,
the both of us.
Buttercup
Oh I want to be a buttercup! A buttercup! A buttercup!
O warm richness!
O passionate color!
O enthusiasm for Life!
I’ll plant myself by a watery place
and laugh for joy.
I’ll glory in the singing birds,
the humming bees,
the pesky flies,
the tickling breeze.
And the sun’s salvation,
“Relish in the warmth of sun!”
my shining saffron face will sing.
“And don’t forget enthusiasm, passion.
Dance, swim, listen, sing, love,
feel and sense.
celebrate like me,” I’ll laugh,
I, the cheerful buttercup!