A-Maying

Purple rhododendron and crocuses, daffodils--both butter-yellow and paper-white, periwinkle, white apple and rose apple blossoms and lavender lilacs. Japanese knotweed and wild grape runners, the dawn chorus of songbirds and the evening chorus of peepers and crickets. Two whitetail deer and one white deer skull, a red fox and a groundhog, a blue heron and a cardinal. And down by the beaver lodge, where the west-facing bank catches the late raking light--a hundred trillium glow, the petals angel-wing white, the sepals green with earthy desire.