 Desert Spring
Fat ol’ lizard
counts
pushups in the sun
Mourning dove
laments:
half a shell is found
Whiff of jasmine
floats
from my neighbor’s espalier
95 at midday
I escape the shade
celebrate
summer must be on its way
a pencil-paper moment
a poem tucked away
©draft, Patricia J. Franz
It’s a TRIFECTA! Today is #PoemInYourPocket Day, #PoetryFriday, on the last Friday of #NationalPoetryMonth!
Thank you, Jone at Jone Rush MacCulloch for hosting this week’s round up!
April is over (almost)! Tomorrow you can read the final, full 2022 Progessive Poem here; a compilation of joy- 30 lines from 30 poets who were inspired by words written long before us.
In addition to the Progressive Poem, National Poetry Month inspired me to write over 30 poems, with The Nevermores (my poetry partners), my PaintChip Poetry family, #haikusaturday twitterverse poets, & several poetry workshop people!  What a J O Y!
Patricia Franz is a kidlit writer and published poet. She believes children, dogs, and sourdough have a lot to teach us about life, joy, and wonder. She has raised two boys, four dogs, and holds a master’s degree in Theology with a focus on children’s spirituality. Patricia, her husband, her Bernese Mountain dog, Bonny, and her sourdough starter split their time between the Arizona desert and the Sierra Nevada mountains. 
I remember those ‘push upping’ lizards well, Patricia. Your poem captures the desert’s unique summer-is-almost-here feeling well. I’ll keep it in the pocket of my memory. 🙂
those lizards do more pushups than I do!
oooooh, yes! Let’s go out into summer and find poems. I love it.
Thanks, Linda! I’m grateful to have stumbled into PoetryFriday to enjoy so many of them.
I can envision it all, Patricia. Love that last stanza. I’m tucking this poem away so I can enjoy it again and again.
Thank you, Rose. This one was a joy to write.
Spring is so different in the desert. Your poem complete with lizard and Jasmine brings me back to our recent drive through western deserts. Such beauty there.
Yes, seasons here give me a bit of whiplash, as we go so quickly from pleasant to HOT!
Thanks for the desert trip, Patricia. I like the easy flow of your poem, feeling that dry heat of your summer already! And I love how it ends.
Thank you, Linda… that easy flow is easier when it’s not HOT yet!
Love it all, the push up lizard and the mourning and the heat, and especially the end. Thanks for a great post.
Thank you, Karen — yes, my lizard muse these days!
I love the image of that lizard! I’m hoping we are beyond snowy days, so a bit of desert heat would be welcome about now.
I have to savor the lizard because we migrate to mountains in a week or so… and likely will have some SNOW before real summer finds me again!
Desert Spring is a lovely poem that lets me know more about your surroundings. The details are beautifully layered in images against a digital photo. I want to slip into your poem and landscape just to feel the heat for a few moments, Patricial.
The desert may be the prettiest place I know when it’s spring!
From the pushupping lizard to glimpses of your garden, I adored this look at your spring. Thank you.
So much life being lived in this desert space! Thank you, Sally!
Hi Patricia! I like the lamenting of “half a shell.” How wonderful to have jasmine on the air!
Jasmine always surprises me here; it’s so unexpected. I grew up with jasmine in our front yard and missed it the first years of living in Arizona. So I am delighted that my neighbor planted it against our shared wall!
Ha! That first stanza, especially, has such a strong voice. What fun, Patricia!
The lizards, this spring, must be competing for a bicep championship! I love watching them.
This is such a visual and scent-filled poem. Love it!
Thank you, Marcie! No shortage of inspiration this season!
Such wonderful sensory details. I’ll chime in with my love for those lizard push-ups. Yes to the scent of jasmine, and I loved being surprised by “espalier.”
…such a great word, ESPALIER, right? fits so nicely for jasmine 🙂
What terrific images, Patricia – thanks for sharing! And the wry humor of “95 at midday/I escape the shade” reads like a haiku. ;0)
Yes, we have all been cheering the reality that we may get out of April without a 100 degree day!
We’re all about those push-upping lizards here in Florida too! Beautiful poem, Patricia. I’m swooning over those last two lines.
I’m guessing they are battling the humidity where you live! Thanks, Michelle!
Oh, this is such a delight to read. It unfolds with each specific image into that perfect ending–a poem! This would be a great mentor to use with students.
Gosh, thank you, Molly; I’m just beginning to think about how kindergarteners can be introduced to poetry.
Admiring your verbs in this one, Patricia
(“Mourning dove
laments:
half a shell is found”), and thinking about a 95* spring! Also wondering if that’s a stylized photo of an actual place you are lucky enough to hang out!
Thank you, Heidi. Yes, this is a snapshot of part of my backyard. I use a photo app to apply filters.
Here’s to more pencil-paper moments! Not sure about 95 degrees, though. 🙂
Ahh…but it’s a dry heat! Thanks, Christie!
Your poem plunged me into that dry heat. Lovely, Patricia!
Thank you, Karen!
Oh, that mourning dove’s lament. Wah!
Yes… but her friend in my patio tree, who’s egg must still be intact, is making a MESS of my walkway. And she is stubbornly sitting, hiding amidst the thorny branches, watching me watch her!