Arbor Day Poem

Last week, I was reading our city's quarterly newsletter and was quite excited to see my name, reprinted as a winner of the Arbor Day writing contest from the year before.  So today I share with you that poem (which is a revision of a poem I had previously posted on this blog).

A Tree in its Season

By Rebecca Klamert

Leaves in yellows, reds, and oranges

provide shelter to dull olive green goldfinches,

blend in with the song of cardinals,

and await the arrival of the indigo buntings

lacking only their brilliant blue feathers.

Looking up on a cloudless night

stars twinkle and dance between bare limbs

of a maple, swaying in the gentle breeze.

A nearby owl surveys the snow covered ground

and intimidates others with its hoo hoo hoo.

Buds turn to shiny bright green growth

as a robin’s monkey-laugh song echoes.

Scurrying, a chickadee seeks scraps for its nest.

Fragrant flowers of an apple tree

beckon each passing person to pause.

A hairy woodpecker, red stripe on its head,

heard long before it’s spotted,

clings high in an elm tree, feasting on insects.

Mother and child play with a toy train and drink lemonade

on a blanket under the shade of a soaring oak.