It's too soon for the pasqueflower yet (which we in North Dakota call crocuses.) Neither have I heard the lilting tune of the meadowlark this spring. Meadowlarks don't come into town, and the crocus only grows on virgin soil. I used to find them growing on the undisturbed land on the railroad right of way. I'll have to take a trip outside the city limits to see and hear these spring miracles. Meanwhile, here are a couple of Haiku poems I wrote about them. I'll never forget the April day when it had just snowed and I was trudging toward the little one-room schoolhouse. Although it was freezing, there was a meadowlark on a fencepost, bravely serenading me toward school.
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SNOW COVERS BLACK FIELDS
MEADOWLARK ON A FENCE POST
WINTER, SPRING COLLIDE
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LAVENDER SILK BLOOMS
SMOKY FEATHERED CROCUSES
A PRAIRIE APRIL
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-by Julie Fredericksen
