As frost softens and ice disintegrates, daylight lingers, only slightly
until one evening, perhaps when you least expect it,
the night opens to a chorus of small voices, sharp and shrill.
The spring peepers have awakened, their loud fierce longing
knows no bounds, they fill the darkness with songs of spring.
As heat rises and the sunlight’s glare persists into the evening hours,
sounds reverberate, accentuated by the flashing of small torches,
the green frogs grr-rumph and protest all night long. The tree frogs
trill in unison, and once in a great while, a sudden eerie shriek
startles you, the screech owl’s cries punctuate the sounds of summer.
As dew hardens and before plants have fulfilled their promises,
dusk comes earlier, leaves begin to fade and then to fall, still
the katydids will not be undone. They continue their syncopated
cacophony well into the later days of warmth, reassuring you,
with their hopes for a plentiful harvest and the fullness of fall.
As cold permeates the driest air, and ice forms on the pond,
nighttime descends too soon, like a cloak covering all in silence,
darkness so deep, it makes the distant stars seem nearer.
Only then do we hear, the coyotes, out on the prowl, howling,
their yipping wails pierce all but the harshest winds of winter.
Debra Orben is a retired elementary teacher and gardener who resides in Upper Bucks County. Her poetry reflects an appreciation for nature and hope for a more just, peaceful, and flourishing world. She will always be grateful to Chris Bursk for welcoming her into his community of poets.
Poet’s Corner is curated by Bucks County Poet Laureate Tom Mallouk and supported by a grant to the Bucks County Herald Foundation made possible by Marv and Dee Ann Woodall.
To submit a poem for consideration, email it to Heraldpoetscorner@gmail.com.
If the poem has been previously published, please say where it first appeared.
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