Comments, suggestions, welcome. This belongs in the Spiritual Poetry category. Thanks! Tasha

Harbingers

The potatoes know it's spring.
In the cupboard,
shut away from light
they had begun
to sprout toward it.
Even in the dark
somehow they knew.

In my kitchen yesterday
a lone ant and it's not even May!
It seems spring
has been whispering
in their ears.

Birds have been singing about it for weeks.

In my hunger for it I ignored the signs,
dwelt on the chill rather than noticed
how the light grows longer with each day
I missed the buds as they began to swell,
green shoots pierce soil freshly freed of frost.

My heart too filled with longing
was impatient, now I am reminded
by these humble, tiny whisperings. I listen
knowing as I accept what is
I birth it in my being.

A very appealing piece, Tasha. Just a few small points:

In S1 you have got 3 different tenses, which is rather confusing. Again in S2 some confusion arises because you speak of yesterday in L1 but then in L2 you are in present tense, then back into perfect tense in L4. There is more mixing of tenses in S4. I would like to see this smoothed out.

Also in S2 you refer to a lone ant, but then go on to speak of "their ears". Actually I don't think ants even have ears! (but I could be wrong, I'm not an entomologist).

The last stanza could use a bit of punctuation. The meaning of the last sentence, in particular, is obscure to me, and this may indicate a need to rephrase and punctuate. Or it may indicate that I am a clod!

Is this any better? Let me know now what you think?

Harbingers

The potatoes know it's spring.
In the cupboard,
shut away from light
they have begun
to sprout toward it.
Even in the dark
somehow they know.

In my kitchen yesterday
a lone ant and it's not even May!
It seems spring
has been whispering
to them.

Birds have been singing about it for weeks.

In my hunger for it I ignored the signs,
dwelt on the chill rather than noticed
how the light grows longer with each day
the buds begin to swell,
green shoots pierce soil freshly freed of frost.

My impatient heart's longing
deafened met, now I am reminded
by these humble, tiny whisperings.

Not to confuse the issue, but I rather prefer your first version of the final stanza.... and was thinking "felt impatient" would push emotion up a notch?

You must know I love this, being so dog-gone weather sensitive myself and apparently just as myopic to minor changes as you are, my dear poet!

A wonderful piece, Mary Ann

Thank you so much for your kind comment. The reason I took out "I listen/
knowing as I accept what is/ I birth it in my being." is that I felt it brought up something I hadn't mentioned before and I didn't think it made sense to stick it in at the end of the poem when when poem didn't lead up to it in any way.I've been criticized in the past for not sticking to the subject, so to speak, and justly so. I try to do that, and sometimes forget because I get carried away with myself, tee hee. Thanks for your kind comment. Warm Wishes, Tasha

It takes care of most of the points I made, Tasha. You've still got a confusion as to whether you're talking about one ant or many in S2.

I am puzzled as to how to make sense of the phrase "my impatient heart's longing deafened met" in the last stanza. Have I missed something?

Just as a matter of curiosity, judging by "it's not even May" the poem purports to be written in April, and since you are in the northern hemisphere April would be right in the middle of spring, would it not? If you were looking for harbingers of spring, wouldn't you expect them to appear earlier, like in February?

I'm not surprised! The "t" was a typo, sorry about that. I fixed the ant, I just figured spring whispered to the ants and a lone ant answered, however, if it is confusing, it's no big deal to change it. As to the season, Here where I live in NE the spring begins very slowly and isn't usually in full bloom until May. The treas normally begin to leaf out mid to late April where I live. When I lived in the DC area spring really did begin in March, not so normally, here. Truly it's an anomaly to see an ant so early. Thanks for all your help. WArmly, Tasha

Harbingers

The potatoes know it's spring.
In the cupboard,
shut away from light
they have begun
to sprout toward it.
Even in the dark
somehow they know.

In my kitchen yesterday
a lone ant and it's not even May!
It seems spring
has been whispering
to it.

Birds have been singing about it for weeks.

In my hunger for it I ignored the signs,
dwelt on the chill rather than noticed
how the light grows longer with each day
the buds begin to swell,
green shoots pierce soil freshly freed of frost.

My impatient heart's longing
deafened me, now I am reminded
by these humble, tiny whisperings.