Gentle Earth, I beg of you –
Whisper to us the first sign of spring.
Annul this wintry despair
And a season of life anew, bring.
From the depths of Baja
Carry the warmth in upon a draft.
Poke the sunshine through grumbly clouds
And send it down as a gilded shaft.
Clothe the desert with the raiment
Of fleeting sheets of white rain.
Implore the wildflowers that they
Bestow upon us a fantastic display.
Help the button-face of the brittlebush
Peep over the dead, crumpled brush.
Bring forth the canyon penstemon.
Make the Mexican lime cactus flush.
With one stroke of rain
Paint the delicate creosote yellow.
Order the Engelmann's cactus to raise
Their trumpets of fuchsia and blow.
Tempt forth the birds to sing – listen!
I beg, usher March in.
~~~~~~~
Spring days like these
Were made for katie ruellia –
Who is royalty among flowers –
Robed delicately in purple.
There – she arrived for the festivities
As the trumpeters blow their sennet.
Her crown is the leaves –
The butterflies – her subjects.
~~~~~~~
Coming from within a rising hedge
Of voluptuous white oleander –
I sensed a turmoil; one writhe
Seduced better than before
And within the naked boughs
Of some palo verde – in a rustle
Of few leaves – I thought I saw
Among them a potential
So quick and sullen, I almost not
Deemed it worthy a mention
Until a lone grackle squawked
That vernal suspicion
Then the wind flirted with a sage
Whose mane shimmied – fervid –
As if the breath of Earth had encouraged
Spring to dance for him.
~~~~~~~
SWEET CRICKETS
Sweet crickets, the tune
You're playing tempts me to sleep.
By your tune, I will drift off
