Eggs

Grandma used to dye eggs. 

Before we arrived, they were done.

She sent the uncles out to hide them

In tufts of spring grass where tulips and daffodils

Rivaled the ovals with swirls and speckles of blue,

Green, yellow, red, orange, and purple.

She didn't like the mess kids made.

Dip and dunk, drip and dribble,

Making rainbows of white eggshells,

But I love the stirring, splashing,

Oh and Ah-inspiring, special, splendid

Child-art of coloring Easter eggs.

Spring Peepers

Fancy-faced flowers

Peeping shyly out

At the new world

Spring peepers!

Excitement

Change is in the air;

Winter is putting on spring.

Decking itself in green

With accents of brightest

Pinks, reds, purples and yellows.

Spring comes and welcome!

Purples

Of all the first

Flowers of spring

Nothing surprises me 

As much as these

Grape hyacinths.

Pajama Time

Pajama time, Pajama time!

Don't you love Pajama time?

Wash those faces;

Make them shine

Put on your pj's, 

Get in line. 

For hugs and kisses,

Goodnight wishes and

Grandma's storytime, 

Prayers and lullabies that rhyme.

Pajama, Pajama time! 

Canada Geese

Cold day for a swim;

You'd never know it!

Swim across the pond and back,

Sunning feathers white and black.

Redbud

Springing from red buds,

Bustling along last winter's

Bare gray branches,

Splashing first spring mornings with

Amazing pink petals!

Here they are:

Competition for the cardinal's red.

Discovery

A ship to distant foreign shores

To great adventure, to explore.

Sail off with pirates and parrots,

Inside a young boy's dreams.

Gate

Daffodils

Greet me at the gate

Waving bright trumpets 

Like flags

Come out, come out,

Or you'll be late 

For spring.

Dandelion

Only a week ago you sprouted

A shock of yellow hair

Now with a company of elderly

Men you trudge gray-headed

Up the slope of the hill.

Beware of children 

With pursed lips, cheeks puffed!

 Wear a hat lest the spring wind

Send your toupee a-flying. 

Busy Birds

Cold day and birds are busy,

Busy at the feeders

Brown-headed cowbirds.

Goldfinches, sparrows,

Redwinged blackbirds

Cold day and birds are busy.

Rainy Day

Rain on my 

Window 

Not here inside

Where pink roses

Catch sunlight

And overflowing

Offer it back

To me

Stretch

Stretch your heart

Toward spring

Stretch with all the cheer

You can muster

Hold your face toward 

The sunshine 

Find the sky

Smiling back at you.

Blue Bottle

Winter clings on

White and cold 

Spring looms close

Trying to turn sunlight

And blue sky

Into summer.

Apple Blossoms

Herald of spring,

Apple blossoms remind

Of summer.

Fragrant as honeysuckle 

Along the pasture fence.

Come early,

Precursors of yellow apples

Full of sweet juice

I can taste sunshine 

And applesauce.

Dandelion Wishes

Dandelion wishes

Dandelion dreams

Are there just for the taking,

Peeping from the grasses,

Poking from the streams

Of clover on the hillside

Near the ocean of new greens

Like a miracle it seems

A dandelion in the spring.

Spring Lightly

Come softly, Spring

Spring quickly from the soil

Sprout, bud, spring up

Spring open, Daffodils,

Spring full of light

Spring!

Trapped

I'm stuck indoors

I need fresh air,

So please be fair,

I want to run and play.

Come help me out.

The view is great,

But I can't wait

To get outside today.

Sport

Arrows for sport,

Not war, no war

Children and teens

Compete for points 

On target shapes

Not war, nor training for war

All fun.

Spring is here— lambs greet the world

Hop, skip, and dribble 

Joyful babies finding life.

Mystery

What can it be?You tell me;

I've never seen the like

It clicks and clacks like old railroad tracks

Letters on buttons in rows 

Like the school's front steps

Metal sticks that fly, 

Black ribbon and a sliding lid. 

I asked Grandma and she says

The roller holds paper

I like this thing, don't you?

But what is it?
Oh me, oh my

I couldn't try to guess

Some sort of new computer?

No Rose

No rose to sniff?

A pansy will do!

Red Calf

In the sunny winter morn

A little red-haired calf is born

Red Leaves

Bright as strawberries,

Fire engines, candy apples

Red leaves greet our starved spirits

And bring us gifts of cheer.

Greening

The green bursts

From the earth

While I am still inside

By the fire

Waiting for spring

Doubting that she

Will come.

Clover

Purple clover

Sweet to see as

Sweet to smell

Children gather your stems

For their mother's vases;

Your patches like amethyst 

Circles of paint

On the palette of Monet.

Old cat

Old cat rests 

In a bed of  iris sprouts

Watching

Waiting for night

Time to prowl

Time to hunt

Old cat, so gentle,

Still wild? No

Tangerine

Swirls of tangerine,

Orange marmalade on toast,

Coral from the ocean,

Salmon smoked by the greenwood fire,

Orange sherbet pushups

On an August afternoon.

Heart

My heart is in the garden

All  year I keep it there

Even in the wintertime

There's no time for despair

For under the ground's coolness

Wait for warming air

A summer's rose, and irises,

And hyacinths to share.

Bubble in the Grass

Tiny world inside a clear

Sphere of glycerin soap

Fallen Tree

Blue gray wood 

Smoothed by sand

Bleached by sun

Shrunken by heat

Split by cold

Hardened by time

Washed by waves