Optimism

 

The pussy willow showed its furry catkins

early during a warm February week and

are now covered with heavy March snow.

We want to be optimistic. The universe

sometimes  agrees – and sometimes laughs at us.

Wind Scented With Mountain Flowers

A sunny April day in late January.

A warming strong wind the past days

erased the remaining snow, dried the ground.

I took tea outside and read new poems.

Buds watching me chuckled over my joy.

 

A Shadow For the Season

Sundial gnomon, or stick in the ground,

reveals its longest shadow to me today.

The sun has drifted south to set.

Now, it will move steadily northward again,

returning for spring to the celestial equator.

 

In Apple Time

I picked apples and the last tomato,

but there are still plenty in stores.

And they will be there all winter,

but my brain and body knows it’s

apple time and some things are ending.

 

Purple Martins

They came to us as early spring,

and like Labor Day beachgoers, they left.

Off to the top of South America,

following the warmth. Snow birds. Senior citizens.

Frequent flyers, amassing miles for next year.