Hail, bright crescent, when fiddleheads uncurl
and marigolds dance in yellow by marsh.
Wood anemone casts carpets of pearl,
and though greening prickers make deer-paths harsh,
new songs echo from wood-pecker and thrush;
red maple wears a shawl of crimson blooms.
Purple trillium unfolds with a rush.
At hemlock roots, fields of puffball mushrooms
send up clouds of spores on early spring breeze.
Two snakes twine a stick by a sacred pool.
Days are almost hot, and nights no longer freeze,
though breath steams out in clouds at evening’s cool.
What fairies did dance in moonless delight
that now wonders appear, almost overnight?