Prelude to Spring

A passing shower brings
A prelude to spring.
It dimples and pocks the lake
Creating self-healing divots
Craters and canyons
Painting and sculpting and painting again
The grey liquid canvas.
Watch closely or you might miss it as
The eye jitterbugs from near shore to far
Wanting to register
Each drop as it strikes
A visual cacophony of
Low rollers circling and radiating
Brothers and sisters
Born from above
No two seem  alike
(Though there is
A strong family resemblance).

A sudden burst bring more and more
Radiating circumferences
Shoulder by shoulder
Crossing and blending these
Fluid Venn diagrams,
Now being studied by mallard mathematicians
Paddling across the pond
Wondering if dinner is included with this show?

 Soon, a drier wind sweeps
The grey palette clean
Shape-shifting the water,
With a pause and a stillness,
An ephemeral epilogue
Waiting for the rain to return
Once again.

Donald Trump's Birdfeeder

I’m going to send Donald Trump a birdfeeder.

You might picture it in the window of this photograph,
Possibly with a Peterson’s Field Guide placed usefully on the Resolute Desk.
I won’t labor the President with any lectures on ornithology
Or science or adaptations and the like,
Since he wouldn’t likely listen to me.
I’ll only ask him to keep the feeder filled
With a nice mix of sunflower seeds and millet.
The chickadees and titmice will be appreciative
I’m sure.
 
Maybe the President will watch them and marvel
At their enterprising natures,
Their common beauty,
And their valiant struggle for survival?
They will only take a few minutes of his time each day
But they will surely show him things he did not know,
He did not know,
Like steadfastness, diversity, playfulness, and simple joie de vivre.
 
David Thoreau said,
   "I once had a sparrow alight upon my shoulder for a moment,
   while I was hoeing in a village garden,
   and I felt that I was more distinguished by that circumstance
   that I should have been by     
   any epaulet I could have worn."
Maybe the sparrows will teach The Commander-in-Chief
About peaceful co-existence?
And tolerance?
And modesty?
William Wordsworth is oft quoted,
   "Come forth into the light of things, let nature be your teacher."
 

All leaders need teachers.