Ice broken and winter on the wane –
returns to us a handful of quietness
in New England, an interval of days
that’ll come to a close when the clamor
of goldfinch and chickadee, when the trill
of wren and phoebe, the sharp arrogance
of the raven tell us here is Spring, a gift
we cannot keep, but unless we keep
a spring in our step, we’re bound to Fall.
Dave Read