Wednesday, February 29, 2012

In the Last Days of Winter



In the last days of winter
hungry hawks hunt my bird feeders,
the bog  thaws and refreezes
and grackles return to the north.
Red-winged blackbirds call from the swamp
their “konk-a-REE” calls trilling over calm waters.
A late February snow starts to fall
with flakes as fine as stardust.
Soon they grow to the size of feathers
white and drifting to the ground,
forming a lumpy blanket on the still brown grass
before they obscure it completely.
Outside my window the gray sky is fractured by the
limbs and twigs of oak trees, maples, and poplar.
How is it that this fractured gray world filled
with drifting snow and downy flakes
can feel so peaceful and soothing?
I am mesmerized by whiteness
and the muffling of the snow,
but the blackbird’s konk-a-REE
as he flashes his red epaulettes reminds me
that under this white blanket the bulbs are warming,
and fine green points will soon poke out their faces
to greet the light of spring.

Kathie Adams Brown (February 29, 2012)

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Robin's Egg Blue



Though it is February first, it feels like the end of winter
My woodpile is getting low and the temperature is rising
Down by the Shawsheen River the robins flood the banks
Red-breasted and bold, digging in the forest duff,
kicking and picking with their beaks,
they are a sure sign of spring in this warm rain,
and now the rain clouds are breaking apart
become tattered fleece in a sky as blue as a robin’s egg,
then even the clouds are gone and all I see is blue,
robin’s egg blue
and I wonder how long it will be
before I find a Robin’s nest with sky blue eggs nestled inside?

~Kathie Adams Brown (February 1, 2012)