APRIL

by Shikhandin

Sudden summer’s lemon yellow trims,

sweet grass beneath sun, a playful breeze.

Books, friends. And hats with broad brims.

The fragrance of dancing, fresh young leaves.

There the raven’s septic throated beat

shatters the rhythm of chirp and trill.

Pinions flutter, swoop and retreat,

distant flute song saunters downhill.

A brook babbles, burbles, falls, on its way.

Crabgrass scratches careless palms and shins.

Rainbows rise above feathery spray.

Eyes grow wide, mouths agape on chins.

Weeds give way to webbed feet, snapping beaks.

Bubbles become ripples. Anxious croaks abound

among wet eyes watching luminous shapes streak

past silver waters with neither warning nor sound.

Hunters amass beneath the hum and buzz

of a dragonfly flotilla’s gossamer allure.

Butterflies flit, flash on blossoms and buds

and flung down hats sit on green velour.

Now dreams pour down from that upturned azure goblet,

into the centre of my being, as warm as mead.

But I am already heady with the echoes of poets  

who too, strayed outdoors in such weather. To read.

* * * * *

Shikhandin is the nom de plume of an award winning Indian writer, who writes for both adults and children. Books include among others, Immoderate Men: Stories published by Speaking Tiger, India and Vibhuti Cat an illustrated book for children, published by Duckbill. For more on Shikhandin you can visit her Amazon page: https://www.amazon.com/author/shikhandin and her Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorShikhandin/