April (Poetry + Photos)

California cacti in bloom

Welcome back to my (poetry + photos) series, where I share a poem I wrote about each month, plus nature photos taken during that month (these photos came from a variety of Aprils). Enjoy :)

Bushtit

some flowers in California

Double-crested Cormorant

Yellow Warbler

Cooper's Hawk feasting on a Northern Flicker

April pops

Like umbrellas opening

In the hands of Victorian women

Parading the streets,

Dressed in fancy, frilly pastels,

Becoming ephemeral blooms.

Quick bursting petals,

Fluttering descent,

The scent of paintbrush water

Tinging the air.

April dances in technicolor,

Skipping hopscotch across watercolor puddles,

And singing the sun into rising.

From high up in the trees

Starling sounds tumble like pinwheels,

Baby squirrels swirl round and round,

Tulips come to bloom overnight,

Robins converse before dawn,

And all of Nature exclaims,

"Glory to the newborn spring!"

Here are the previous months' poems:

January

February

March

Pileated Woodpecker

Garter Snake

Brown Creeper

Ephemeral blooms

March (Poetry + Photos)

Barred Owls

Last year, I wrote a poem about each month. This year, I'm sharing them, along with photos I've taken that month (photos drawn from a variety of Marchs). Happy spring!!!

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

Purple Finch

Red-winged Blackbird amidst the buds

Migration of Tundra Swans

March!

The most assertive month of the year,

It speaks in verbs,

And calls to action,

With commands like,

"March fourth!"

Luck and awakening meet,

In this season of becoming-green.

Sometimes it teases,

Like a mirage,

Peeking at warmth,

Then shimmering away with a morning frost.

But she proceeds,

With confident strides;

Mother Nature's New Year,

Moving, quivering,

Alive with flight and color and song.

This bright and clear, syllabic awakening

Is palpable outside and in.

Place your hands in Lotus Mudra -

For we are flowers emerging from mud.

Outside, a caterpillar squirms to life.

I wonder if it knows

What it's about to become...

If you'd like to read January's poem, click here, and February's, here.

Sunset

Eastern Towhee

Migration of Tundra Swans

Caterpillar (swallowtail?)