Jackpine swayed in South-East Wind and Spring stirred ever-so-slightly in her snug nest near the Crown. Ice boomed and crackled in the cold and Slush formed slowly under Snow’s warm blanket.
Spring snuggled into dead leaves left by Fall and dreamed of Sky and Golden Sun. Birch wiggled her roots gently as she felt the iron grasp of Frost slacken and South-East Wind chanted softly in Birch’s bare branches.
Spring slowly opened her eyes and struggled to sit up. Her gaze fell on the hard, undulating drifts of whiteness as they stretched across the lake. She leaned back, remembering wet sand and pounding waves on rock and beach. Run-off water joined Slush on Lake and Ice shivered, trying to break the hold of the frozen bottom along shoreline and shallows.
Spring stretched and yawned, Ptarmigan began his journey North.
Spring dozed. Water in the Channel broke free from Ice.
Spring sang and her voice echoed across the sky in a great V of beating wings and honking cries.
Spring moaned, and Wolf and Fox sought a safe place in which to bear their litters.
Now Spring was fully awake, as children ran free of Parkas and Boots, laughing, leaping, rejoicing. The warmth of Sun on bare limbs. The ice-bound months of Winter behind them; the freedom of Summer months ahead.
June Lenzen RNDM, Poems of the Heart
Thank you June, for your evocative account of how Spring came to Oxford House. I was struck by your imagery when I heard you read this poem, and I relish those images again, as I read them in this Blog.
What a beautiful piece of writing, June! I’ve just read it on this very warm and humid day, with a forecast of many more. The images of Spring that you’ve depicted so vividly are a refreshing read. Thank you.
Hi June, I so appreciate your poem which awakened my own memories of arriving at Oxford House to visit in the Spring. Being from ‘down under’ I had never seen or heard anything like the drama of Spring in the far North…the cracking of ice and the honking of the geese…
Lovely poem Sr June.
I have never forgotten the few spring months I spent with you and Gertie in Oxford House, and your poem, written and shared aloud, brought back so many memories. Thank you, June, for your characterization of Spring in all her moods and beauty!
What a beautiful poetic reflection on the arrival of spring in the far north, June, thank you for that. I recall my visit to you and Gertie 30 yrs ago! And a wonderful experience of the spring during my retreat at the Franciscans in the countryside was it outside Regina? We’re just beginning to see signs of spring here in Aotearoa NZ, not as dramatic but still life giving after winter days.