This, The City

Release, at last, from winter's grip.
There is a shimmer of new growth on
winter-bare trees preparing to leaf out
and green the environment for summer.
Birds swoop through an atmosphere
redolent of spring. As for people they
walk their dogs and ride their bicycles
swooning in the pleasure of a warming
sun, their bodies freed from the burden
of winter clothing lest they perish from
the cold. There, a field stretching toward
the horizon, still swamped from the
melted snowpack but soon to be planted.
And across that field saunters a grey
coyote, unconcerned with the presence
of a nearby highway, reconnoitering
its territory. A few miles on, the horse
paddocks bare of horses but host to a
ground-settled flock of Canada geese
warming themselves in the sun while
searching out the grains easily picked
from the grassy fields' organic manure.
Speaking of birds, and we were, there is
a monarch of the species fanning his
magnificent tail in a grand narcissistic
display to entice a female. The wild
nature of the turkey becalmed by the
serene beauty of the day, displaying
himself for the admiration of incredulous
passers-by in this city of wildlife.