WISCONSIN SPRING SONNET

In spring when winter keeps a stealthy grip

Black crow on carrion feeds in country ditch

East wind maintains a daily wicked whip

Nightfall the coyote cries its tensive pitch

 

The auburn cow, she seeks a place to lay

Along the rusted barbwire hedgerow path

A thicket keeps the icy wind at bay

The morning sun reveals a newborn calf

 

How does the singing April robin thrive?

The mottled starlings raid the farmers’ grain

The buntings left for slopes to swoop and dive

Brave stands the crane head bowed in driving rain

 

These creatures do not pine or thus complain

That trait’s been gifted to the likes of man

 

(Greg Galbraith and his wife, Wendy, sold their dairy farm after 30 years of grazing cattle. He now has 20 acres of his grandfather’s original farm with a sugar bush and cabin. From there he writes about the evolving rural landscape.

Visit www.poeticfarmer.com for more information.)

---