In early spring the world hovers in
limbo
Water drips and melts from tree
branches and towering drifts
Drizzling into rivers, sneaking
across roadways,
filling lakes with the
cold, fresh promise of summer
But night skies are frozen, laced
with blank-faced stars
That give away nothing; no hint of
coming warmth
The earliest green faces have emerged from bare patches of sun-warmed earth
Surprised by the lingering white
all around them
Wondering if they've showed up
uncomfortably early to summer's party
Wood frogs emerge in the glowing blue of evening light
They stumble sleepily onto the ice
of that thawing lake
Tilt their heads back and sing to
the starry dusk:
"Chuck-chuck-chuck-chuck-chuck!"
Calling out for love into the
trickling quiet
From deep in the forest: a low bass thrum
the wings of a
ruffed grouse
Time with my heart, which beats a
loud rhythm of anticipation
I'm waiting for another
Who breeds in this special
in-between
Whose loud, clear voice can pierce this
tension
of an atmosphere that lingers on
the knife edge of winter
But is tempted and wooed by spring
The snow beneath me,
melted then frozen, thawed then stalled,
Crunches and squeaks
Until a sound stills my boots, and locks
me in place
I become a mannequin in this night’s
display window
My head turns in slow motion to the
left,
The cold, damp wind tickles my
cheek
Was it? The call I've been waiting for?
The one that haunts my memory through the darkest days of winter?
I hear it again. Closer now and to my right
From deep inside, almost reflexively,
I call out into the darkness, my
breath forming an aura of hope
"Hoh-ho-ho-ho! Hoh-ho-ho-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo!"
(I didn't realize there was a bird living in my belly)
Then in a moment of sheer magic, a dark body glides silently across the stars
The
frogs stop chucking
The
grouse’s wings fall still
The
drip of meltwater seems to cease
The only sound is the "click" of talons making contact with a tree
branch
Which bounces once, deeply, under
the new weight
Brown eyes illuminate, flash knowingly at me and suddenly
the air between us is
alive with electricity
The barred owl calls back to me
And this early spring night
explodes in fireworks
I think I've been there :)
ReplyDeleteGreat poem, thanks for sharing