February is full of surprises. Just when you think the snow will never end, you awaken to a balmy thaw. The pond, once frozen solid, is suddenly set free in startled dishevelment. Yes, February is nature’s roller coaster ride: Unpredictable and fast - just like life.

Cattails

by Susan Edwards Richmond

One side: three stalks in an island of bent

and broken reed; on the other: six poles,

wave slightly, two naked, four rife with seed.

One completely plush and inside out,

the others turning. I can see the brown

densely packed grains, the tawny cream pulling

away; the shortest stalk has the largest.

Shook down quivers, but doesn’t break away.

I put my hand atop and squeeze, not down

at all but firm well-sugared cotton candy,

as addictive to finch, sparrow, and wren

as that confection once was to my children,

heads bright with golden floss spilling loose

trailing to each booth at the country fair.

Susan Edwards Richmond is the award-winning author of four books for young children, including Night Owl Night and Bird Count, winner of a Parent’s Choice Silver Award, the International Literacy Association’s Primary Fiction Award, and a Mathical Honor Book. Susan's five collections of nature-based poetry for adults include Before We Were Birds and Purgatory Chasm, both published by Adastra Press. A passionate birder and naturalist, Susan teaches preschool on a farm and wildlife sanctuary in eastern Massachusetts. She is happiest exploring natural habitats with her husband and two daughters, and learns the native birds wherever she travels.