Summer's Day

A sunny day at the start of summer

Delights the eye with light and life.

The breeze was soft,

the brakes were calm;

The land’s green robe

lay lush and long.

Eddies spun

in the otter’s road;

Warm winds whistled

among willow-withes.

Every tree rang

with the trill of songbirds;

Speckled salmon

sported in the streams.

Old eagles soared

in the upper air;

Lizards lazed

in the light-drenched stones.

Bees and butterflies

browsed among blossoms;

Hart and hind

in hedgerows hid.

Crab-spiders lurked

in coreopsis,

Spread their claws,

to spring on the bees;

Ladybirds trundled

up ladder-like stems,

To batten on the aphids

who bled the plant.

Hawk-moths hovered

in the heat of the day;

Swifts and swallows

swept over rivers.

Piebald calves

played in the pastures;

Coyote’s cubs

in the copse cavorted.

Banks and brakes

basked in the sunshine;

Mountain and meadow

were mantled in light.