A Small Bird Built A Nest In My Heart

A small bird

 built

A nest

In my heart

I saw her

carefully tugging

Prayer flag threads

I didn't see her carry

the dry twigs of despair

the brittle lichen of longing

instead she placed them secretly

knowing they would hold

what was

waiting to fly

from my heart

It is the season of earth's great generosity and abundance. The natural world is bursting with voluptuous Spring greenness, a colour so rich and vibrant that it tickles you from the inside. The maples, the lilacs and the green fingered pine trees.  And all the while in the garden, the weeds grow like -- weeds.

And as a human living in this divine explosion of energy I make some attempt, in my foolishness, to tame a small part of this world that grows up around my door. I pull weeds.  I use the weedeater and the lawn mower. I plant seeds in a garden whose clay soil is a better host to hardy, practiced weeds than to tender veggie seeds. In my grumbling and digging I realize my need to amend the soil. Tiny lights are lit from the candle of despair.

And so the list of tasks that rattle around in my head is also made abundant by this lush season. I am humbled by my role of lion tamer to the natural world. Each morning the overnight surges and spurts of growth greet me and ask me "who do you think you are?"

The deer browse hungrily, eyeing the trellis rose just out of reach, scratching the itch of their velvety antlers. Quail take a dust bath in hollows they have etched with their round bodies and crazy scratching. We watch them argue over whose turn it is in the prime spot under the bird feeder. Seven tiny ducklings swim under the willow that hangs into the pond. Their is always new snacks for the eyes.

I watch the feelings of delight at the sights of nature untamed and then am swamped by the sense of overwhelm that rises in an instant, feeding on my desire to manicure a small square of earth for the part of me that savours order and tidiness. It is a constant movement like the breeze that comes over the hill. My work is to delight in the coexistence of these two senses like a parent of children that like to argue a bit.

And how is it in your part of this lovely planet as it springs to life?