a piedmont spring

 

Flowers and Naps

I look up into the treetops

and hundreds of pine cones festoon the green pillars,

 

 

thousands of catkins litter the ground

and pollen coats every surface

subject to the wind’s matchmaking,

the dogwoods flower as do the sugar snap peas in the garden,

and the fringe bush in the front yard,

along New Hope Creek flowers abound:

small buckeye trees, May apple, bluets,

the first laurel, foam flower, wild iris,

and myriad other early season ephemerals,

the forest is fulling with leaf

and holding the Sun in the green of their hearts,

birds and squirrels seem manic in their courting rituals,

I, and our students, are tired,

for we have endured and worked through Fall and Winter,

and the pandemic has added countless straws to our backs,

the ebb and flow of nature contrasts strongly

with how we structure our working lives,

hope burgeons in the forest,

and we are ready for a restorative nap.

by Henry H. Walker

April 16, '21