June

Now June settles in,

Warm as sun,

Strawberry-sweet.

It is the world turned green,

No patch of earth able to stay bare,

Burgeoning with sprouting weeds,

Pushing up lush grass,

Clover-speckled,

Alive with the hum of bees

And the dance of butterflies.

In this time of long light

A quiet breeze stirs

The great leaves of rhubarb,

Waves the purple heads of iris,

Ripples the emerald waters

Of pond and stream,

Carries the evening song

Of grateful wrens and awakening cicadas.

Perhaps it is not just a movement of air,

But the delighted sigh

Of the One who is Life

Admiring this June creation,

Winking at us in the first firefly,

Spilling this goodness as a gift,

Hoping that we might receive with wonder

This June blessing.

--Timothy Haut, June 2, 2013