Front Door Denizens by Sarah Russell (MY FRONT DOOR Series)

Front Door Denizens
by Sarah Russell

The door itself is nondescript, a faded forest green, like others in the complex. Yesterday I hung our cherry blossom wreath on its hook, dancing pink blossoms against the dark panel. The remnants of our finches’ old nest⸺intricate grass lace and a bit of mud for glue⸺hide in the silk flowers. The finches come back every spring, and this morning, there they were, flitting from porch to maple tree, warbling a love song, as if they’d been waiting for their wreath, our door. While they’re in residence, we’ll put a note on the post asking folks to come round to the back.

old nest with new life
open mouths searching, peeping
daffodils in bloom

NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: The Haibun form seemed perfect for telling about the finch family who leases our front door and wreath every year. The above photo is of their eggs last spring.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Sarah Russell’s poetry and fiction have been published in Kentucky Review, Red River Review, Misfit Magazine, Silver Birch Press, Rusty Truck, Third Wednesday, and other journals and anthologies. She is a Pushcart Prize nominee. Her first poetry collection, I lost summer somewhere, was published in 2019 by Kelsay Books. A second collection, Today and Other Seasons, will be published by Kelsay this summer. She blogs at SarahRussellPoetry.net.

The White Rabbit Out of Hiding, a sonnet by Frank Mundo (Me, as a Child Poetry Series)

The White Rabbit Out of Hiding
a Sonnet
by Frank Mundo

The hour had come for this son of man
To be glorified at the local mall.

A single mom with a singular plan
Plus that something that doesn’t love a wall

Eyed clothes on hangers, in great piles and stacks,
Worrying, Oh dear, we shall be too late,

Settled on my best, beige corduroy slacks
Paired with (a most glorious twist of fate!)

My Humpty Dumpty turtleneck sweater,
— Which meant, of course, what I chose it to mean —

Black socks and bright shoes: a real trendsetter,
You’re my big boy, mom smiled, So handsome and clean.

Say cheese, came a voice, which proved quite funny
Riding the knee of a giant bunny.

PHOTOGRAPH: Easter Bunny Day at The Mall at Prince George’s County in Hyattsville, Maryland, 1977.

NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: This poem tells the story behind the frantic day the only picture ever taken of me with the elusive Easter Bunny occurred.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Frank Mundo’s stories, poetry, and essays have appeared in dozens of journals, magazines and anthologies in print and online. He earned a BA in English from UCLA, where he also completed the Creative Writing Program. Author of three books, most notably The Brubury Tales (foreword by Carolyn See), Frank lives in Rancho Cucamonga, California, with his wife, Nancy, and their two dogs, Jax and Rusty.

O Peeps, poem by Katie Bo Peep

 O PEEPS
by Katie Bo Peep

o peeps,
 
you are so sweet
 
the yellow ones are the best
but the others still pass my test.
 
easter is my favorite time of year
because a day without peeps is something i fear.
 
i do believe that my mouth can sense when they are near,
o peeps, how i love you!
 
the purple ones are the second favorite of mine,
but on all peeps i do dine.
 
yellow, purple, white, pink or blue,
which peeps are best to you?

SOURCE: Peep Poetry, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Nina Simone Sings “Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues” by Bob Dylan

“When you’re lost in the rain in Juarez and it’s Eastertime, too…”

Loveliest of Trees, poem by A.E. Housman

LOVELIEST OF TREES
by A.E. Housman 

Loveliest of trees, the cherry now
Is hung with bloom along the bough,
And stands about the woodland ride
Wearing white for Eastertide.

Now, of my threescore years and ten,
Twenty will not come again,
And take from seventy springs a score,
It only leaves me fifty more.

And since to look at things in bloom
Fifty springs are little room,
About the woodlands I will go
To see the cherry hung with snow.

Illustration: “Cherry Blossoms,” watercolor by Hailey E. Herrera, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Alfred Edward Housman (1859–1936), an English classical scholar and poet, has been ranked as one of the greatest scholars who ever lived, and was appointed Professor of Latin at University College London and then at Cambridge. Housman published two volumes of poetry during his life: A Shropshire Lad (1896) and Last Poems (1922). After A Shropshire Lad was turned down by several publishers, Housman published it at his own expense. Several composers created musical settings for Housman’s work, deepening his popularity. When Last Poems was published in 1922, it was an immediate success. A third volume, More Poems, was released posthumously in 1936, as was an edition of Housman’s Complete Poems (1939). Despite acclaim as a scholar and a poet in his lifetime, Housman lived as a recluse, rejecting honors and avoiding the public eye.

Holy Thursday, Poem by William Blake

HOLY THURSDAY
by William Blake

Twas on a Holy Thursday their innocent faces clean
The children walking two & two in red & blue & green
Grey-headed beadles walkd before with wands as white as snow,
Till into the high dome of Pauls they like Thames waters flow

O what a multitude they seemd these flowers of London town
Seated in companies they sit with radiance all their own
The hum of multitudes was there but multitudes of lambs
Thousands of little boys & girls raising their innocent hands

Now like a mighty wind they raise to heaven the voice of song
Or like harmonious thunderings the seats of Heaven among
Beneath them sit the aged men wise guardians of the poor
Then cherish pity, lest you drive an angel from your door

IMAGE: “Holy Thursday,” illustration by William Blake from Songs of Innocence (1775).

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: William Blake (1757-1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. For the most part unrecognized during his lifetime, Blake is now considered one of the greatest poets of all time in any language. As a visual artist, he has been lauded by one art critic as “far and away the greatest artist Britain has ever produced.” (Source: Wikipedia)

Happy Easter from Irving, Fred, Judy — and Silver Birch Press

EASTER PARADE

Music and Lyrics by Irving Berlin

(Excerpt — listen to Judy Garland and Fred Astaire perform “Easter Parade” from the 1948 movie at youtube.com)

In your Easter bonnet

with all the frills upon it,

you’ll be the grandest lady

in the Easter Parade…

Oh, I could write a sonnet

about your Easter bonnet

and of the girl I’m taking 

to the Easter Parade.

Note: Fred idolized Judy (“She was simply wonderful…”) and Judy adored Fred — and you can see their mutual devotion in every scene of this classic musical.

Happy Easter to all!