Photo by Malcolm Lightbody on Unsplash

As you walk to school this morning,
through the little avenue,
you think the trees are bare,
and they are.
It is not time for them to leaf.
But look closer, is there a
small bird, quiet upon the branch?
Do squirrels chase around the trunk?
See the life you can find there.
For this is loving the earth.

Look at the avenue’s grassy edge;
you think there is only dark wet earth
and brown grass.
But if you stand still and really look,
is there a small bug crawling,
struggling its way through?
Do you think the stems might
seem like huge trees to the bug?

And somewhere, soon, you may also see
a sign of green that is not grass.
Perhaps that little green one day soon
will blossom into Dandelion
to reflect upon your  throat.
“Do you like butter?”
And then dry to a tick-tock-clock
for you to blow ’til it flies away.
That is the way to love the earth,
and feel the joy of early Spring.

April, 2008