Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Overture

I started writing poetry in Ted Bookey's class at the Senior College at the University of Maine in February 2008

This is one of my early poems:



OVERTURE : Early Spring in Maine




The land still silent white,

Except for an evergreen hum.

Increasing brown and gray chatter

From the audience of rocks and streams.



The music begins very gently.

Golden flute notes of weeping willows

Too quiet to hear at first

Over the noise of the audience.



The slow silver notes of the birches

Hard to hear early on,

Until the conductor sun pays them

The attention they need.



Then the maples – low French horns of pink

Slowly increasing volume

Until they are a loud tone of red,

Aided by stems of the roadside bushes.



Elms intrude percussive notes of black

Even now hinting at green violins.

Pearly piccolo sounds of pussy willow

Green cello sound of the grass.



Trumpet yellow forsythia fanfares

Introduce the final coda.

Before the full orchestral performance

Of Spring in Maine.


Published in 'Hidden Oaks Poetry Journal' in 2008






Jim Todd 2008