*Note: I just can’t think of a poem tonight. I’ve been struggling for several hours now and … well, I just can’t. So, here is a poem from 2014, I hope it speaks to you.

 

Sights & Sounds of April

 

On the morning after

The snow had almost gone,

The birds had quiet conversations,

And the sun was bright

On the squashed grass.

 

The shadows of bare branches

Reached across the sodden lawn, and

Painted the pavement

With rivers of light and dark.

 

 

The far away sound of wind chimes

Blessed the air with mellow tones

And the quiet ticking of the clock

Counted seconds as the last deep drift

By the hedge receded into the earth.

 

Shriveled blood-red berries on the

Mountain Ash tree waited

For the Jays and Crows, and

For the Starlings’ return, poised there in the sun.

 

Last autumn’s apricot colored maple leaves

Still shivered on the branches,

Stubbornly holding on as they had all winter.

Shockingly tenacious,

They prevailed through the bitter cold.

 

They kept hold despite the arctic blasts.

They would not give up to the heavy nor’easter snows,

Though they were dry and fragile even then, they

Held fast, waiting for their reinforcements to appear.

 

 

© Diane E. Dockum

April 12, 2014