April Showers

It is springtime in Virginia with flowing cherry and blossoming white pear trees lining highways to make a splashy debut. Nature is blooming with pride but sudden angry outbursts occur noting that April is full of surprises. 

Again the blackbirds sing;

the streams Wake,

laughing from their winter dreams

And tremble in the April showers.

The tassels of the maple flowers.

-John Greenleaf Whittier

Petunias after the rainstorm

I am in my new house among many unopened boxes and look out at this cold spring day. Springtime seems confused. Before Spring's official opening, the weather was springlike. Now, some days are warm, some are chilled by showers. The old saying, April showers bring May flowers, is appropriate for this season. Oddly enough, nurseries are filled with bright colors of springtime so with great delight, I add flowers to my patio. Will they last? Not sure. On Long Island the rule of thumb is, "Don't plant until Mother's Day".

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Taking the strike line, "And tremble in the April showers," from John Greenleaf Whittier's poem, I would like to share a golden shovel poem describing some nights and afternoons. 

Spring in Virginia has a penchant for mischief and

Enjoys its own merrymaking, causing me to tremble:

Quick, thunderous, nighttime sounds shout out in

Unison with shocks of light. Without warning, the

Rainwater splashes across patio pavement as April

Laughs, watching flowers tousle about amongst its showers.

©CV, 2021, draft

Today is another cool, cloudy day starting at 56 degrees. It is chilled enough for me to flip a switch for the dual fireplace to warm the house and my hands. Then, a sweet surprise happens. The sun shines and the rainwater disappears. 

spring chill

fireplace roars

plants thrive

©CV, 2021

This week I also created an equation poem, an anchored tercet, and a personification poem.

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Join me for today's Poetry Friday Roundup. It is hosted by the ever-gracious Jama Rattigan at her blog, Jama's Alphabet Soup. Jama shares a poem by the former UK Poet Laureate, Carol Ann Duffy. One line in her poem talking about the words of poems seems magical: 

They're sparklers

scrawling their silver loops and hoops

on the night...

On April 19th, I will join my poetry colleagues at the 2021 Progressive Poem where I will add my line choices to the poem that began on April 1st with Kat Apel. Check out the first day lines and a list of poets who are contributing this year at Kat's blog here.

Thanks to Irene Latham, I have another beautiful Live your poem postcard to display for National Poetry Month 2021 and a lovely welcome to my new home note.