May Day, Gray Day

Looking out my windows today the skies are overcast. But today is the first day of May!

May Day, Gray Day

Though spring has had a very slow start this year, the temperatures are rising and more signs of spring are appearing every day. I found a poem perfect for today after the rains of yesterday and last night…

May Day

A delicate fabric of bird song
  Floats in the air,
The smell of wet wild earth
  Is everywhere.

Red small leaves of the maple
  Are clenched like a hand,
Like girls at their first communion
  The pear trees stand.

Oh I must pass nothing by
  Without loving it much,
The raindrop try with my lips,
  The grass with my touch;

For how can I be sure
  I shall see again
The world on the first of May
  Shining after the rain?

   — Sara Teasdale

A Walk Through the Damp Grass

I took a walk through the damp grass in the back yard this morning. The scilla flowers under the river birch tree are in bloom. And there are some other flowers mixed in with the scilla also in bloom.

The layers of bark on the river birch tree caught my eye. Aren’t they beautiful?

As I walked down the steps from our deck to the backyard I noticed that they were very slippery today. With all the rain and cool weather we’ve been having it feels like moss has begun to grow on them. And I see more moss on tree branches and tree trunks than I remember seeing in past years. I wonder if it will stay or fade away as the season warms.

Usually the wild violets are in bloom for May Day. I was able to see some violet leaves in the places I usually see them but they are still very tiny. Perhaps in a week or two we’ll see their blossoms.

May Day Last Year – Wild Violet Blossom

And from my favorite poet, here are her word on May…

May

May, and among the miles of leafing,
blossoms storm out of the darkness—
windflowers and moccasin flowers. The bees
dive into them and I too, to gather
their spiritual honey. Mute and meek, yet theirs
is the deepest certainty that this existence too—
this sense of well-being, the flourishing
of the physical body—rides
near the hub of the miracle that everything
is a part of, is as good
as a poem or a prayer, can also make
luminous any dark place on earth.

   — Mary Oliver

Happy May Day!

May you walk in beauty.

Just for fun, here are some photos from past May Days…

Last Year in my back yard

2017 near Ely, MN