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P O E T R Y
Nooning with Tulips and Bruin
A poem from the mountains
In high mountain climes
spring is a fleeting fortnight
squeezed between ice and blooms
Snow crouches low
in the lee of blue spruce,
chickadee, nuthatch, grosbeak
peck about on patchy ground
Birds are on their own now
plump sunflower seeds from the feeder
taken down after a bruin paid an early call
Beneath the bedroom window shine
a coterie of bright tulips planted last fall
tall crests of vibrant orange, sunny yellow,
abiding red, and a head of dandelion white
Today I am like the tulips
nooning with petals closed
a clouded sky does not move us
We need the sun
to warm our hearts
feed our souls
open us to what might be
And when I do feel
the sun’s warmth on my skin
like the flowers
I turn to receive its gift
Our bird feeders usually come in before the bears emerge from hibernation, but this “spring” was quite snowy and blustery so they were left out longer than usual. Once this bear was sighted, the feeders were retired and the birds were on their own again. Bears cannot be allowed to become reliant on a domestic food supply and that includes sunflower seeds.
As always, thanks for reading…
