~A morning in May~

The Silver Maple ( Queen)

who holds court in the yard

A Morning in May

by Terri Mueting

If one can sit quietly out of the way

one may just be rewarded a sacred glimpse of life in the garden.

It's a hustling bustling morning

trees and bushes alive with nature's version of rush hour.

Everywhere, life, sweet life.

The Silver Maple Queen

stands regally in the center of it all.

She is the giant skyscraper, that many diverse neighbors call home

so filled with birds all singing their own chorus

that at times it seems as if the tree itself is bursting with song.

She is host to the symphony

adding her own music, as the morning breeze rustles through her leaves

like a languid beauty running her fingers through her hair.

Birds chatter, news and gossip exchanged

as they flit from floor to floor in this leafy apartment building

Sounds of splashing drift up from the birdbath in the piazza  below.

Mothers busy gathering bits and pieces to fluff their homes.

A twig here, a morsel to take home to baby there, like mothers everywhere.

Pairs of butterflies dance on the breeze

then briefly, oh so gently, break from the tango

to sit as softly as a breath

on the petal of a flower.

A hummingbird dips her long slender nose deep into the sweet bounty

of the Million Bells flowers

hanging in a basket
like a banquet, she's been invited too.

All this swirling, beautiful, blessed, life

right outside my door

on a deceptively quiet

morning in May.