April takes its name from the Latin word aperire, meaning ‘to open’
New life bursts forth from translucent red pomegranate tips on the branches of the handkerchief tree and I stand surrounded by a choir of lilac leaves as they open soft, furry, almost-purple buds and unfurl into delicate new leaves with blushed red tips sounding their notes to the warm bright spring sky
I am captivated, lifted, taken,
“I’ll show you how it’s enough”, says Rumi
Here in the middle of the afternoon
God’s wind breath blows through the Reed-flute world in front of my eyes.
The naturalists weekly tells us that we have entered the micro-season of “The Swallows Arrive.” This is the first micro-season of the mini-season of Clear and Bright. All the micro-seasons within Clear and Bright are:
- The Swallows Arrive (Apr 04 – Apr 08)
- Geese Fly North (Apr 09 – Apr 13)
- The First Rainbow Appears (Apr 14 – Apr 19)
The 72 micro-seasons were established in 1685 by Japanese astronomer Shibukawa Shunkai.
home again fluttering in the eaves barn swallows
from the broken bell the chatter of swallows nest building Jane Reichhold from A Dictionary of Haiku
