What is Green? (Monday Poem)

by Mary O'Neill


Green is the grass
And the leaves of trees
Green is the smell
Of a country breeze . . .

Green is the coolness
You get in the shade
Of the tall old woods
Where the moss is made.

Green is a flutter
That comes in Spring
When frost melts out
Of everything.
Green is a grasshopper
Green is jade
Green is hiding
In the shade --
Green is an olive
And a pickle.
The sound of green
Is a water-trickle.
Green is the world
After the rain
Bathed and beautiful
Again . . .

Green is the meadow
Green is the fuzz
That covers up
Where winter was.
Green is ivy and
Honeysuckle vine.
Green is yours
Green is mine . . .



from Sing a Song of Seasons
A Nature Poem for Each Day of the Year
selected by Fiona Waters
illustrated by Frann Preston-Gannon
Candlewick Press, 2018