The green blades don’t try
to inhabit last year’s stalks,
pressed by wind and rain
into the earth
(though they grew high
and pioneered so much)

The green blades
ride the surge of life upward,
energy released from where it waited underground,
springing up and up to harvest sunlight

There’s no need
to cart the old stalks away —
they will decay
while new hay rises vibrant,
lush, thick, tall,
taking the field.

©Wendy Mulhern
April 3, 2015