Tentative early ‘spring’

— Photo by Greg Hume

“Two yellow dandelion shields do not make spring,
nor do the wild duck swimming by the shore,
so self-possessed, so white of side and breast,
nor, I suppose, the change in land-birds’ calls….’’

From “Night Wind in Spring,’’ by Elizabeth Coatsworth (1893-1986), Maine poet

Here’s the whole poem.

Chimney Farm, in Nobleboro, Maine, where Elizabeth Coatsworth lived with her husband, the famed writer Henry Beston.

— Photo by Magicpiano

'Earth sinks to rest'

"November comes
And November goes, 
With the last red berries
And the first white snows.

With night coming early, 
And dawn coming late, 
And ice in the bucket
And frost by the gate.

The fires burn
And the kettles sing, 
And earth sinks to rest
Until next spring."

-  Elizabeth Coatsworth