Awake! shouts the sun,

Peering through trees stretching their limbs in the dawn.

Awake! bark the gander and the goose,

Rousing their downy troops for a groggy march to the water.

The chicks stumble and bumble down the hill

While mother and father scan the sky for danger.

 

Arise! croaks the heron,

Stretching skinny legs and stepping into the water

Like a matron in gray testing the pool temperature.

To sleep! Mutter the bullfrogs,

Putting away their horns after their nighttime serenade

And now seeking shelter from the great bird now stalking amongst the reeds.

 

Wake up! grunts the turtle,

Struggling to get its footing on a slippery log rising from the lake.

Depart! cries the mist in the last still moments of the day,

Swirling in unseen currents above the still waters

And waving farewell to its sister, the dew,

Who silently bedazzles the grass nearby.

 

Let’s go! whispers the electric motor,

Pushing the little aluminum boat into the lake.

Breakfast! beguiles the bright yellow fly

As it plops into the shallows at the end of a line cast by the fisherman,

Holding a rod in one hand and a steaming cup of coffee in the other.

Wake up!

— R.E. Spears III