An unseasonal preview of summer has accelerated growth
Into greenfloods of underbrush
Tendrils leaping across trails with exponential growth
Which I clip as I walk along judiciously editing trail margins
Woodpeckers rattletap deadwood
Hoovering up invertebrates
With the enthusiasm of teenagers eating potato chips an hour before dinner
Bracken ferns appear full grown overnight
When I see them I remember how we’d pull them up
Strip the fronds to create spears
Then engage in pseudo wars of childhood play
Or lurk along the edge of the road to ambush passing cars
Until the time that truck stopped
Backed up
After being hit with our meager broadside
I had rarely seen someone so angry before
That anger directed at me and my friend Chris
It hit us like the punch that vein popped, redfaced truck driver would have thrown
If we hadn’t sprinted into the forest surging ahead adrenalin charged
To vanish safely in the greenswarm of spring memories
Yesterday’s spring green luster has faded on the parched hilltop here
Purple and yellow wildflowers have gone from prime to seed too soon
Summer drabs replacing verdant easter bonnets
Khaki shorts instead of jeans
In the distance Mount Baker has started to show his ribs
Melting away winter’s extra layer
I read the smudged horizon to plot mainland cities spilling skycrap
Like wild beasts marking their territory
So I turn into the prevailing offshore breeze
To breathe the scent of tomorrow
David Trudel © 2013
Great preview of summer; it has “unsprung” indeed.
Thanks Tina, it sure has. Thank you!
I sit at my desk, intoxicated by the small bunch of muguet (Lilies of The Valley) that were given to me! It is traditional to present small bundles of muguet to those you care about on the first of May here in France.
Bonjour ma belle Lea. What a beautiful tradition!