False Spring

Risaku Suzuki, “Sakura” <13,4-33>, 2013.

Read this article by Margaret Renkl in the NY Times.

Wrote this draft of a Pantoum (here are all of my drafts of 2025 10 Pantoums) in response, taking her very poetic lines and arranging them in a repeating order.  

Pantoum 7 - after Margaret Renkl - Praise song for a false spring

While the rest of the world was burning up during the hottest January on record

It was unseasonably cold here in Middle Tennessee. I walked around my yard

Exulting at the sharpness in the air, at the cold blue of the daytime sky.

After a fall that lingered and lingered, winter was here at last. A real winter.

Here in Middle Tennessee It was unseasonably cold. I walked around my yard while

Winter kept trees and woody shrubs in dormancy, their fall-set buds tightly furled.

After a fall that lingered and lingered, winter was here at last. A real winter.

I rejoice when the natural world is working more or less as it ought. It happens so rarely now.

Winter keeps trees and woody shrubs in dormancy, their fall-set buds tightly furled, but

We can’t count on snow anymore. Some years it pours from the sky; some years none at all;

I rejoice when the natural world is working more or less as it ought. It happens so rarely now:

After an unseasonably cold January, February had highs 20 degrees warmer than average.

We can’t count on snow anymore. Some years it pours from the sky; some years none at all:

This boomerang weather is called false spring - a day or two of warmth bracketed by cold.

February had highs 20 degrees warmer than it ought to be, After an unseasonably cold January, 

This year false spring blew in on a gust of warmth and birdsong; I dawdled in the mild light

This boomerang weather is called false spring - a day or two of warmth bracketed by cold.

I sat on my back steps and closed my eyes, listening; The birds were singing as if it were April

This year false spring blew in on a gust of warmth and birdsong; I dawdled in the mild light while

Their songs - overlapping - came from every corner of the yard: robins and crows and flickers.

I sat on my back steps and closed my eyes, listening; The birds were singing as if it were April

The birds were gobbling the insects stirring in the leaf litter. The bluebirds began to quarrel again.

Their songs - overlapping - came from every corner of the yard: robins and crows and flickers.

Historically, false springs were transitory; now they are increasing in frequency and severity

The birds were gobbling the insects stirring in the leaf litter. The bluebirds began to quarrel again.

If false spring lingers, there are sometimes disastrous effects for plants and wildlife and farms;

Historically, false springs were transitory; now they are increasing in frequency and severity

When a hard freeze comes, it takes the insects with it, leaving nothing for birds

If false spring lingers, there are sometimes disastrous effects for plants and wildlife and farms;

Worse than a false spring our wild neighbors is an actual spring that comes too early. 

When a hard freeze comes, it takes the insects with it, leaving nothing for birds

Migrating birds and butterflies evolved to arrive in sync; arriving in ecosystems filled with food

For our wild neighbors, an actual spring that comes too early is worse than a false spring:

Bees evolve to wake into a world filled with flowers; Birds evolved to nest in a season filled with insects. 

Migrating birds and butterflies evolved to arrive in sync; arriving in ecosystems filled with food

False spring isn’t meant to last. No matter what happens, this is not the end of the story

Bees evolve to wake into a world filled with flowers; Birds evolved to nest in a season filled with insects. 

Any sign that nature is working as it ought to reminds me to keep faith in the future.

False spring isn’t meant to last. No matter what happens, this is not the end of the story

It has always been a welcome reminder, deep in winter of the promise of new life.