Overnight

Last night's bluster
wakened sleeping plants
to the possibilities of
spring emergence.

In the woods ferns
newly-freed from
snow and ice shout
their glowing presence.

The night's rain has
burnished the trunks of trees
they gleam with renewal
though leafage scant.
Crimson florets wink
on maple branches.

Wind chuffs still-clinging
fall-transparent beech leaves
flinging them through
the still, chill air.
Moss glows translucent emerald.

Tentative fingers of
green shoots clear the surface
of the drenched forest floor.
Trout lilies marching to bloom.
Trilliums, overnight fully formed.

Wild strawberry and
woodland violet prowl
the hillsides. Fuzz appears on
sumac branches. Overnight,
the woodland renewed.

c. 2009 Rita Rosenfeld