Early Spring, Padden Creek Trail

Deciduous trees budding.
Some early, quick leaves
clothe brush along trail.
A butterfly, rich brown wings
with yellow-white dots
alights on the trail, pauses —
for something I can’t see,
perhaps moisture,
sweet nectar of life.

So few blossoms. Just down
the trail, a translucent shimmer
on the ground — an insect?
When I see its pause end,
its return to hover and arrow,
I only imagine buzz or hum —
understand hummingbird
guess at its longing for moisture,
sweet nectar of life.

I know so little:
not the name of butterfly
not the name of hummingbird
not the name of this shrub,
not the name of that tree.
I am learning to see; I’m propelled
down this trail, compelled to draw
what I need from this trail:
sweet nectar of life.

~*~

Andrew Shattuck McBride
NaPoWriMo 2014 ~ Day 1