may fourth

Kenny Baldwin 4th of May Back-Yard Memorial


I took the canoe out
on a windy day
but  i couldn't
get across the first lake.
coming back
i could steer
with the paddle

in the air

one week into May

and in that week
we have shifted
from residual snow
to a green explosion
the like of which is
seldom seen

the little brown wrens
arrived
vocally agressive
demanding that i
get their nesting boxes
cleaned out- now

and the fly catchers
who yell fee-bee fee-bee
at each other
keep me guessing about
the leftover nesting material
in their favourite spots

i try to dissuade them from
nesting in the wood shed
because something-
i suspect racoons-
"so cute when they're young"
usually eats their first brood

and of course,
there are the black flies.
last year's erratic weather
with a spring heat-wave
followed by frosts
took down the apple blossoms.
we missed the apples
but nobody mentioned missing the
black flies.

who will speak for the black flies?
the phoebes will