Flowers loosen
green buds
that open to pink.

Within the maples
a warm slide
of syrup drips
sweetness

for a sapsucker’s
tongue. The bird
drills shallow wells
in orderly rows

in the bark. Black
butterflies burst
giddy and greedy
into the arms

of a spicebush,
the air so fragrant
it’s hard to breathe.
As the sun sets,

night-blooming
jasmine slowly
opens its
fragrant blouse.