I went on another poem hunt and found the poet Karen An-Hwei Lee. My poem today is inspired by a poem of hers that I am sharing, and accompanies my WIP watercolor painting. Karen An-Hwei Lee’s poem follows below mine. You can read her poem in entirety at the Poetry Foundation:
NATURE’S VOICE
Nature’s voice quiet as a cottontail
calls through her Midwest milkweeds,
her savoir faire sunflowers
dancing in place,
in crevices of earth wherever–
Waiting, waiting, patiently, waiting,
they’ve come–
bees, butterflies, birds
another season–
Is there any doubt
why indigenous
peoples praised
our devoted
pollinators!
© 2017 Michelle Kogan
SONG OF THE OYAMEL
On the other side of this door
You are an oyamel native to the mountains of Mexico
Rising in a cloud forest of sister evergreens
Shedding pollen cones, shedding winged seeds
Our lost wings
singly and in pairs.
This is why the monarchs vanish
Raising sienna-hued colonies longer than my arms
Hibernating in Mexico where it’s hotter in January
than my front yard, where the red bougainvillea raves
Oyamel fir forest, in Mexico, is where the Monarch butterflies spend their winter. Click on Oyamel to find out more about this forest, the ecosystem their, and the monarchs.
Jama, at Jama’s Alphabet Soup is hosting the Roundup for Poetry Friday. I’m always taken by her delectable posts filled with rich imagery and poems, and would definitely make a stop there.
Michelle Kogan Illustration, Painting, & Writing 
Praise for our pollinators indeed! I have bees humming on a flowering tree right outside my back door. They are not as quiet as a cottontail.
Yay for your bees, buzzing away busily at work. They are not as quiet as a cottontail, but the milkweed and sunflowers are . . .
Spring has come alive here. I love the sunflower in your painting with its bee. And the brick wall peeping from the leaves. Gorgeous. The contrast along the leaves is beautiful, too, as is the swirl of color.
Thanks Brenda, glad spring is starting to show herself!
This is so timely for me as I recently shared on social media about the insecticide laden flowering plants sold at big box stores that contribute to colony collapse. The painting in progress and poem completed, plus the introduction to a poet new to me, are inspiring.
Thanks Jan, I’m glad you enjoyed the art and writing!
I’d be interested in reading what you shared if you could pass on the link to your info on the insecticide laden plants. My garden is organic, I use a mulch that I make, along with a tea fertilizer I use throughout the year on my indoor plants.
Hi Michelle, I’m so honored that you asked. It sounds as if you are very
Bee Protective:
http://www.beyondpesticides.org/programs/bee-protective-pollinators-and-pesticides/chemicals-implicated
The homemade tea fertilizer sounds neat. Can you share a bit ’bout that?
Yes, I’m a big fan of bees! Thanks for passing on the link, I’ll definitely take a look. I’d be happy to share about my tea fertilizer–I have to get back to you, I’m getting ready to hear the Illustrator, Melissa Sweet for the Annual Zena Sutherland lecture, at the Chicago Public Library.
Thanks for introducing me to Karen Lee. Both her poem and yours celebrate this time of year so beautifully. We have a lot going on in our yard right now, and it’s wonderful to see the bee, bugs, butterfly and bird in your painting. Quiet wonders of nature. 🙂
Thanks Jama! I’m like a little kid this time of year, anticipating different plants emerging.
Our devoted pollinators do so much for us, they deserve all the love they can get! 🙂
I couldn’t have put it better Jane!
I’m glad to read both poems and see the beautiful art, too, Michelle. Knowledge of the oyamel forest seems important for us all. Our bees are back, but I wonder how the sudden cold last week affected them? I love “quiet as a cottontail”, and it’s true. I watch those bunnies in my yard-nary a sound!
Thanks Linda! I found this wonderful article on how we can help honeybees when it’s a bit too cold, here’s a link to it: http://www.mariasfarmcountrykitchen.com/help-honey-bees-survive-winter/comment-page-1/#comment-4040710
Yes, patiently waiting I have been for these beauties you speak of! This watercolor is gorgeous as always, Michelle.
Thanks Kiesha, They are worth the wait!
We’ve had lots of bees and a few butterflies start making the rounds here, as well as a more than year long effort for people in our community to plant pollinator gardens. Soon flowers and pollinators will be springing up all over!
Hi Kay, how exciting having your community involved with attracting pollinators!
Yes, the poem pairs perfectly with your WIP. I have to say, though, that I love your WIP as is!!
Thanks Mary Lee, we’ll see where it goes . . .
Michelle, your poem and illustration are wonderful together. They are filled with the splendor of spring and the second poem makes me dream of traveling during this glorious season.
Hi Carol, thanks! Travel, yes that’s a grand idea for spring.
Such a wonderful post! I have bougainvillea in my yard, and rave is exactly the right word for what it does. Ruth, thereisnosuchthingasagodforsakentown.blogspot.com
Hi Ruth thanks; yes bougainvillea is gorgeous! I’ve been trying to add native plants to my garden-so I have to admire it from a distance.
You’ve captured the season so well in text and illustration, Michelle – I especially like your “savoir faire sunflowers!”
Nature flourishes under your watchful eye, Michelle.
Gosh, thanks Michelle!