The Season's Campaign
By Joyce Sidman
I. Spring
We burst forth,
crisp green squads
bristling with spears.
We encircle the pond.
II. Summer
Brown velvet plumes
bob jauntily. On command,
our slim, waving arrows
rush toward the sun.
III. Fall
All red-winged generals
desert us. Courage
clumps and fluffs
like bursting pillows.
IV. Winter
Our feet are full of ice.
Brown bones rattle in the wind.
Sleeping, we dream of
seed-scouts, sent on ahead.
Copyright Credit: Joyce Sidman, "The Season’s Campaign" from Song of the Water Boatman & Other Pond Poems. Copyright © 2005 by Joyce Sidman. Reprinted by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Source: Song of the Water Boatman & Other Pond Poems (Houghton Mifflin, 2005)