Mountain Chickadee
watching us from a high branch,
early March morning
Shades of grey push south,
flag snaps at twelve forty two
ev’ning chimes complain
Soft quilted heavens
distant fire engine wails—
the crow calls for spring
four ponderosas
stand apart from their bother—
pride chills winter souls
late winter morning,
call of the Northern Flicker
collared doves cooing
thin wisps of low clouds
chase each other near the peak,
all else azure sky
Flickers, Magpies sing,
last season’s dry brown leaves cling
to the spring scrub oak
Northern Flickers call,
long shadows on tall dry grass
squinting I look west
Ponderosas dance
bluff-top currents stir the breeze,
western sun warms us
snow at Elk Mountain,
an azure scratch rends the clouds
huddled ranch buildings
leafless London Plane
reaches over the dry stream,
soon spring water flows
the massive Blue Spruce
casts the only full shadow,
still waiting for spring
soft breeze from the north
snow on this morning’s mountains,
Black-capped Chickadee
Western Meadowlark
hazy early spring morning—
Great-tailed Grackle
Blue River giant
Isak breathes the snowflake air,
Hoosier Pass springtime
hillside frosted firs,
cloud break reveals the late sun
on highway thirty