Spring in the Forest

Spring in the Forest

Spring has announced itself again.

Fresh sap-green buds unfurl to reveal rose-madder hearts.

Diurnal torch-ginger flowers emerge

from earth-red cones as if by magic.

Birds’ shrill song echoes,

percussioned with whimpers and scurries,

and the pad of beasts’ paws prowling.

Beneath the music of the gentle rain

in the sweet-amber-honeyed scent,

the forest is a lung

air breathes through it tirelessly,

pumping life into all creatures,

above and below into the vast arcana of nature.

And the sun, peering dappled through the leaves

traces its arc over the distant mountains.

Then, the sapphire sky, torn like a sail,

folds over the forest jewel

as the spring day closes like shears.

©Julie Dexter