At the estate sale,
hyacinth blooming out front,
April’s first bright day.

Daffodills for sale
off of Huron River Drive,
two dollars a bunch.

Hundreds of teasels,
standing in their dormant state,
just waiting to turn.

Maybe crows called here,
coyotes might have passed by—
fresh pinecone in spring.

One after the next,
Bloodroot springs up on this slope,
blue jays call and call.

A Red Admiral
finds light on the trail with us,
woods full of birdsong.

Twin century trees,
one falls before the other,
lies like a shadow.

Two woodpecker pairs
tapping in the still forest,
the only sound heard.

Green moss wreaths each tree,
river flows with melted snow,
spring’s foot in the door.

Like the Milky Way,
like a curled listening ear,
this blue turkey tail.

The beaver sculpture
left beside the fallen tree
at the river’s edge.

The geraniums,
the plots of land and gardens—
only poems left.

Am I in the stars,
the birds calling, tree to tree,
the sun on this moss?

Spring frogs are singing,
the forest is waking up,
we walk and listen.

Not needing poems,
letting April warm his fur,
my dog finds sunlight.

The first of April,
he’s been waiting all winter,
this Robin, singing.

Spring is underneath
this cold lake receiving sun,
waking us up, too.

When we were still young
someone got to name the stars—
battles, hopes, and fears

The eye of the pine,
one of three in my mom’s yard,
watching over her.

Purple moss growing,
taking up every crevice—
a soft earthly life.