GRATITUDE
Flame azaleas by the pond,
Redbud blooms have come and gone.
A house finch pair are nesting here
In my blue spruce another year.
May’s full moon is safely past:
We’ll put tomatoes out at last.
Down the lake my kayak arrows;
Tadpoles swarm within the shallows.
I thank whatever gods there be
For good health and longevity.
BELGIAN DRAFT HORSES
Huge and heavy-hoofed,
Wide-eyed but placid Pete
Gives me a curious look
While slightly shy-eyed Fred
Stares modestly at the ground.
Patient, they stolidly stand
As straps are buckled round,
Collars and spreaders hitched
And wagon tongues hooked on.
Twelve tourists climb aboard.
Our driver flicks the reins.
Fred and Pete ease forward
And then with a powerful trot
They pull us up and onward
Until we crest the hill
And feast our eyes upon
A long lake filled with isles.
IN ABSENTIA
The first Monday in May
Slid off the calendar.
It mingled into Tuesday,
Dissolved in thin air.
The dentist could not reach me.
He wondered where I was.
It was an anniversary,
A day of grief and loss.
I could not bear to re-live
The day my sweetheart died.
There’s nothing that I would not give
To have him by my side.
Springtime in the Notches
We should have known what April fools
This winter was to make of us.
It piled the snow up to our roofs
While Arctic winds assaulted us.
We looked in vain for signs of spring,
For daffodils and crocuses,
But now in May it’s happening:
The woods are where the action is.
Below these west-wind-blocking cliffs
Beneath their blanket of dry leaves
Shy yellow violets persist
And Dutchman’s breeches are perceived.
Where phoebes and song sparrows peck
The squirrel corn plants its fruity roots.
Wake robin trillium are on deck.
Hepatica promises liver cures.
Dogtooth violets belie their name.
Spring beauties herald what has come
At last, unnoticed, unproclaimed,
Our longed-for time of procreation.