Fields

by Barbara Santucci


As you walked in the fields of autumn
what did you discover the day
crows rose out of dry corn stalks,
startling you, those mischievous pranksters,
their wings brushing the air,
their caws like crackling thunder?

As you walked in the snow rutted fields,
fields dead beneath the winter white,
what did you discover the day
you witnessed cardinals,
glorious globes of scarlet,
flashing tree to tree like Christmas lights?

As you walked in the fields of spring,
what did you discover the day
you made a path through the meadow,
dodging bees and grasshoppers,
feeling wild asters tickle the backs of your legs,
locking eyes with a white-tailed deer?

As you walked in the fields of summer,
what did you discover the day
your blood throbbed in your temples
and your heart raced as you tossed new seeds
onto the mud-smelling earth?
Was it joy?


* * * * *

Barbara Santucci has a Masters In Writing for Children from Vermont University and has published three picture books with the W. B. Eerdmans Books for Young Readers and several poems in adult anthologies. Her work as a poet and freelance artist has allowed her to look closely at nature and all its beauty.