April 2022

Hanging Vines What one may miss once Will never miss twice There’s always new New plant New wind New ant hole And it’s the little things That make the world Welcome to our birdbath A crimson red leaf Is shed from a tree Drifting slowly Slowly Slowly Into the crystal-clear reflection of the water Only disturbed by the ancient moss That lives there Spring is coming New is coming The lively chirps of a bird Make people smile Chirp Chirp Calling for her young To drink The cat screeches The mouse yelps The wind howls With them The ants cry Please don’t trample us A historical chase Cat vs. mouse Through the golden fields Over the log Through the grass To the bath The mouse trips And the cat Gets dinner The stream is calm Little sounds Chika de-de-de Croak, croak But it’s interrupted Splash! Splash! The beavers The great pine tree Covers all Gives them shade Reminds them she’s alive With a little bonk The grass grows The squirrels chatter The birds return The flowers bloom And the world is back from the dead A robin swoops down So elegantly Wings spread wide Cherry-red breast Ripples the calm Of the water And is gone again Gone The leaf The chirp The sounds The chase The stream The tree The return The bird What can we learn? Nature Has its language. Rex Huang, 11Lake Oswego, OR Anna Weinberg, 11Washington, DC

Oh, I got a new snail. Wait! Wait! He is dead. Autumn E. Weinreich, 6Wilmette, IL