first green flare
makes
the air
quiver
and dart
the throat
ache
to call
makes
the heart
cheer
the ear
keen
to the sheer
glorious
windfall
of oriole
veery
vireo
Credit
Copyright © 2015 by Sidney Wade. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on May 11, 2015, by the Academy of American Poets.
About this Poem
“There is that single day, or hour, every year in early spring when the fresh new green leaves are dazzlingly lit from inside. This coincides with the return of the birds. It is ache-making.”
—Sidney Wade
Author
Sidney Wade
Sidney Wade is the author of Bird Book (Atelier26 Books, 2017) and Straits & Narrows (Persea Books, 2013). She teaches at the University of Florida and lives in Gainesville, Florida.
Date Published
05/11/2015