crabapple – The Morning Porch/Patio

Friday February 01, 2019

Dave Bonta February 1, 2019 1

Snow fine as fingerprint powder; it’s almost zero. Two cardinals and a jay in the crabapple tree wait their turn to drink from the spring.

Dave Bonta January 19, 2018

From the other house, the squeak of a cloth on window glass. Juncos forage under the crabapple. The thermometer inches up toward unfreezing.

Dave Bonta April 24, 2016

Cold air, warm sun. Two male towhees tweet at each other in the lilac. The old crabapple is coming into bloom, as shockingly pink as ever.

Dave Bonta September 6, 2015

Fog rising from from the valley breaks over the treetops like silent surf. The weak sun finds hints of scarlet under the crabapple leaves.

Dave Bonta May 8, 2015

The old crabapple next to the springhouse is in full bloom, a mass of shocking pink abuzz with insects. The sharp snap of a phoebe’s beak.

Dave Bonta May 15, 2014 1

Leaves blow backward, signalling storms to come. Fallen crabapple petals litter the ground between the cattails like bloody thumbprints.

Dave Bonta May 12, 2014 1

The old crabapple tree next to the springhouse has pulled it off again, blossoming wildly. The catbird scat-sings from its purple depths.

Dave Bonta May 12, 2013

The red porch floor is pocked with yellowish green pollen. In the garden, a red crabapple petal is plastered to a witch hazel leaf.

Dave Bonta May 8, 2013 1

A catbird mews from within the crabapple’s scandalous maroon. It starts to rain. A chickadee carries a worm into its hole in the stump.

Dave Bonta April 14, 2012

Half molted now, a patchwork of yellow and green, the goldfinch goes twittering past the crabapple’s half-open blooms.