April is no Fool

Time moves on – I flip my chart

From March to April – a new start

Thirty days before me spread

With increased sunlight overhead.

 

Nature blossoms on all sides

The coastlines fear the strong spring tides

Nests in leafy hedgerows trill

The early worm an easy kill.

 

Tree litter roughly cast aside

Now on the move as insects hide

New grass and nettles, Shepherd’s Purse*

And Shaggy Soldier all converse

 

Along the sunlit woodland floor

Obeying spring’s primeval call

A splash of yellow – aconite

A rash of scillas, bluebells bright.

 

It’s amazing - everywhere you turn

Your questing eye will soon discern

The thrusting signs of life that crawl

Over cobbles, gates or garden wall.

 

Winter stamps its foot in rage

As youthful springtime takes the stage,

Cold and Ice are on the run

April*, no Fool, has begun!

  

(c) Poet in the woods 2014

* Shepherd's Purse on the pavement

* Historical note: Some historians speculate that April Fools’ Day dates back to 1582, when France switched from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar, as called for by the Council of Trent in 1563. In the Julian Calendar, as in the Hindu calendar, the new year began with the spring equinox around April 1.