AH, SPRING!

Egrets take to their wing.
Shama trill and lilt notes ring.
The myna birds do their bird thing.

Cows in the pasture bray their moo.
I'm glad to be here, wish you were too.

The man on the corner
is washing his car
all the while singing
to a distant star.

The weather is better.
Yes, it is spring
and I can't think
of a more enjoyable thing.

Aaaaah, Spring. 

   What things do you notice with spring?  Mary Oliver has a line in her poem The Summer Day, "I don't know exactly what prayers is.  I do know how to pay attention."  Every time I pause to notice things around me, I wonder am I paying close enough attention.  I need to practice--a lot.  How do you practice paying attention?  What have you noticed today?  What have you learned today?  Can you try writing a poem about that?    Then try drawing a picture to go with your poem.  Today I was playing with digital drawing.  My picture was drawn on my computer using a program called Paper 53.  I need to learn more about the program, but for now I had fun playing.  I hope you find time to play today, too.  After all, it is spring.

   A shama is a local bird, only found on Kauai and O'ahu.  Also known as the White Rumped Thrush, it has a red-orange chest like a robin.  It is considered to by the most gifted song bird on our island. It was first introduced to Kauai from Malaysia in 1931 and released on O'ahu in 1940.

Nothing is so beautiful as spring-- Gerald Manley Hopkins