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.