a spring-time stroll

In spring the Mayapples,
glistening with rain just past,
protect their delicate flowers from
cleansing storms and
hold their own against
the garlic mustard
threatening to overtake the forest floor
with serrated leaves
and four-petaled flowers

While little brown-capped mushrooms
push up through bark mulch
alongside violets and trillium
for their fair fae friends
to dance among

And suddenly,
a Jack-in-the Pulpit,
preaching a sermon to the woods
with its trinity clusters of leaves--
standing tall amidst
a choir of strawberries