I am staunchly ignoring the world right now. No, that’s not true… I’m not writing about the world right now; I’m silently watching.
Instead, I am enjoying my life. This is Beltaine, the beginning of summer. Time to celebrate the fecundity of the Earth. Birds and bees are singing and dancing their fertility rites. Daffodils nod in the sunshine, drawing in fat bumblebees. Brave tulips in pink and pale yellow are glowing in the garlic beds, the only places they survive the squirrels. The weather was congenial for a few days, though that might be sadly ending, but we’ll take the rain while we have it. Daffodils are blooming, telling canny old gardeners that it’s time to plant potatoes. The star magnolia tree is unfurling its astonishing flowers on bare twigs. And swollen buds on the pears, apples and peaches are hinting at a sweet harvest to come.
The one thing I will not be doing is going a-maying in the woods… My friend’s son was just walking the dog on the edge of their woodlot — and both dog and boy came home covered in ticks. It took over an hour to debug. So I think that the season of woodland strolling is over. In April… No maying for me…
The Wednesday Word
for 29 April 2026
maying
What does maying mean to you? Think about it. If you’d like, send me a quick poem or story… or just a few thoughts. If you really have something to say, maybe enter my Wednesday Word contest on AllPoetry.
And now here are the thoughts that arise in me when I think on maying…
hawthorn dance
take this ring
compound with stardust
and time
dancing bright alchemy
into tomorrows
with yesterdays
to grace the maypole
i give thee being
where was none
your hand in mine
and round again
believe you this
we are
together
one
Now… this address by King Charles is one bit of world news that made me unreasonably happy…
©Elizabeth Anker 2026
By My Solitary Hearth 