Empty nests and new life

I described the mourning dove nest in the leftovers of a dead plant in a hanging basket in my courtyard in my commentary on March 8th. Since then, I watched the mother dove sit on her eggs for weeks while the male brought her food.

If I got too close, the male appeared out of nowhere and squawked at me. I tiptoed through my courtyard to give them privacy. I watched the nest from inside the house. Sure enough, as nature would have it, two little heads were soon visible in the nest. I have to say they had faces only a mother could love. Still, they were brand new and fluffy.

I had a surprise yesterday. I heard cooing and a kerfuffle outside while I was making coffee. The two babies were making noise and hopping around on the ground and flapping what looked to me like untried wings. I drank my coffee and peeked out occasionally. The next time I looked, they were gone. I felt sad. My up-close spring nature show was over. I felt happy that they were born in my yard. They have joined the renewal of new life around us.

I learned that mourning doves lay eggs often in the spring. I have decided to leave the basket nest in place for now. I hope that couple or possibly another one might consider the pre-built nest a good location to roost.

If you are of the Christian tradition and attend worship on Easter, you will hear lots of words about the meaning of this day. I don’t plan to add to them. The day speaks for itself. If you are someone who attends worship on Easter out of respect for your family, good for you. That is a kind thing to do.

I will add the voices of poets to the mix.

Mary Oliver is a much loved American poet. She certainly is a favorite of mine. Here is a brief one with which I was not previously familiar.

April, by Mary Oliver

I want to speak at length about

the happiness of my body and

the delight of my mind for it was

April, a night, a full moon and-

 But something in myself for maybe

From somewhere other said: not too

 many words, please, in the muddy shallows, the

 Frogs are singing.

You will notice in the above poem that Mary Oliver deviates from standard rhyming and line formation for a poem. The poet that brought this methodology for poetry into the mainstream was e.e. cummings. 

 Edward Estlin Cummings lived from 1894-1962. He loved poetry from an early age. He wrote a poem a day from the ages of 8 years to 22 years. He was educated at Harvard. He began experimenting with forms of poetry very early on. He is credited with bringing experimental poetry style into the mainstream.  In addition to writing poetry, he painted in watercolor.

E. E. Cummings (American, ), "Chocorua Landscape."

I have loved the following poem for a long time. In it, he expresses how nature reveals the divine. (Originally published in 1950).  

Receive these Easter gifts of poetry and empty nests.

i thank You God for most this amazing
day:for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky;and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes

(i who have died am alive again today,
and this is the sun’s birthday;this is the birth
day of life and of love and wings:and of the gay
great happening illimitably earth)

how should tasting touching hearing seeing
breathing any—lifted from the no
of all nothing—human merely being
doubt unimaginable You?

(now the ears of my ears awake and
now the eyes of my eyes are opened)