Painting by Donna Henderson
In the Great Basin, First Day of Spring
(Summer Lake, Oregon)
The storm smashes the marsh grasses,
whips up the willows,
crochets then unravels the lake’s glossy lace.
Snow whirls in billows of rice-like noise,
steel roofs thunder on their rafters.
When it dies,
in the silence
mourning doves
wearing noon’s aureoles
coo by the chicken coop.
The soul tenses against both the wind
and the stillness,
unsure of its nature–
Is it a mouse in the marsh grass?
That little alkali island in the wide, grey lake?
Or is it the grass, the lake?
Donna Henderson is the author of four collections of poems, two of which were finalists for the Oregon Book Award. Her poems, essays, reviews, song lyrics and cross-genre collaborations have appeared widely in journals, recordings, and performance venues. A practicing psychotherapist, Donna lives with her husband, Rich Sutliff, in Maupin, Oregon. Send Word, her most recent collection of poems, was released in 2022. Website: donnacatehenderson.
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