Spring
There is a quick tree in the yard.
It claps its branches
while the dog barks at a wind
it does not know can speak
the languages of leaves tucked
into twigs that reach
life underground, where it went
to hide from the snow.
And if I turn my head, the leaves
will crawl out like babies
racing for a toy while the dog
barks endlessly
at the wind it cannot understand.
Primavera
Hay un árbol veloz en el patio.
Aplaude sus ramas
mientras el perro ladra al viento
no sabe que puede hablar
los idiomas de las hojas escondidas
en ramitas que alcanzan
la vida bajo tierra, a donde fue
para esconderse de la nieve.
Y si giro la cabeza, las hojas
se arrastrarán como bebés
corriendo por un juguete mientras el perro
ladra sin cesar
al viento que no puede entender.
~ These poems were translated by Maria Lander Cabrere and Eileen LaFontaine. They were narrated by Maggie Gagliardi and Alejandra Camacho.
“Spring” was published in 2020 in “Children We Are” (May 2020, Poets Unite Worldwide).
Steven R. Vogel has been writing poetry since childhood. He has lived and worked on farms, in villages, in midsized cities, and in metropolitan areas. He is a graduate of Bemidji State U. and Mayo Medical School and has worked in medicine and academia for more than four decades.