Springtime In Louisiana

As I checked my mailbox
for this afternoon’s mail,
in the neighbor’s Bradford pear tree,
whose recently bare branches now
seemingly are suddenly aflame
with clusters of small white blossoms,
appearing like thousands of bursting,
puffy cotton bolls, with just the
merest hint of green from new
leaves yet unfurled,
a single splash of bright red
catches my eye. A male cardinal
sits mid-tree, cocking his head,
watching four robins hopping upon
the brown but greening lawn below,
each looking for the first worm
that will be seduced by the newly
energized sun to climb to
the surface to enjoy the first
80-degrees day of this year.
Ahh, spring appears to have
arrived this morning….

Harry Edward Gilleland      3.15.02