River Drifting

Water Lily

River blooms green
Between water lily stars.
Swans nibble
Tender water moss
While minnows
Dart amid the bobbing
Carpet of green.
Water striders flee.
A hush falls as
The great blue heron
Lifts its wide wings.
He beats the air from his
Driftwood perch.
A redwinged blackbird
Flashes red and yellow stripes
Among the elderberries.
Mrs. Mallard pecks at
Arrow Arum.
A Canada goose stands
On one foot in the shallows.
The current carries us
Ever onward
Toward the sea,
The light in our eyes.

Copyright 2015 Brenda Davis Harsham

Water Lily and lily pads

 

Note: I’ve been boating with the kids for three days straight. They took to stand-up paddle boarding. They might never canoe again.

Spring Rain Crescendo

Purple Irises in Rain

Raindrops
Rain plops
Plink, plink
Pitter, patter
Crack of thunder
Howling gusts
Shake the windows
Rain drums sideways
Young plants flatten
Trees bend sideways
Dry earth drinks deep
Lemon tulip petals scatter
Blacktop steams and hisses
Pollen washes into soil
Puddles swell to lakes
Wind softens, sighs
Drip, drop, stop
Greens deepen
Flowers glisten
Birds sing
I listen

Copyright 2015 Brenda Davis Harsham

Note: We are having a dry spring, and we need rain. If we don’t get rain soon, we might be dancing for it like the children in the fairy tale, Rain Dance. This poem is a prayer for rain and a celebration of Poetry Friday, where poetry falls like rain on a dry earth. The host and poetry gathering point this week is Random Noodling. The hostess, Diane, offers a quote by Mark Twain and a poem about sanity. Worth a look! Write a poem for kids or quote one by another, and you can join the fun by visiting and contributing your link. Here is a bonus poem by a favorite author:

April Rain

Let the rain kiss you
Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops
Let the rain sing you a lullaby
The rain makes still pools on the sidewalk
The rain makes running pools in the gutter
The rain plays a little sleep song on our roof at night
And I love the rain. 

Langston Hughes

Playful Spring Etheree

IMG_6339

One
Tiny
Chickadee:
Playful, hungry,
Hopping, chattering,
Finding bird feeder seed,
Darting to her Red Roof Inn.
Squirrels chase along high wires,
Chittering, chattering, fat from greed.
Thin bird chides them, twittering, fluttering.

Copyright 2014 Brenda Davis Harsham

Note: This poem is an etheree, for another or an explanation of the form, click here.