Pause For Poetry:
Michael Hawkes /77
Spring
A poem by Michael Hawkes
As one looks up through budding leaves
It’s hard to think of poisoned air,
Then dazzled by the blue beyond
It’s hard to entertain despair.
With bluebells blooming at one’s feet
Where yesterday the hoar frost lay,
One can’t imagine global heat
Could damage spring in any way.
As cardinals call with resolution,
Confident they’ll win a mate,
One can’t believe that foul pollution
May clamp and seal the songbird’s fate.
Having seen such fine perfection
Preceded many times before,
One just assumes, without reflection,
It will be so for evermore.
18/5/24 – Hawkes
Feature image: Artur Łuczka on Unsplash
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Michael Hawkes is a survivor of all the world’s wars. He learned (and loved to rhyme) by torturing the hymns he had to sing at school. A retired West Coast fisherman living in Montreal since 2013, he is an unschooled Grandpa Moses writing an average of five poems every week.



January 9, 2026" />
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a film by Andrés Livov" />
for its 16th edition" />
Passion fruit meringue verrine" />
playful clownish escapade" />
World rhythms on stage" />
management mistakes" />
Kensington Avenue" />
Vegan Chili Chocolate Cake" />
Bethune tunnel" />
Left out of breath" />
of business strategy" />
damage before it starts" />
into a professional career" />
plumbing issues at home" />
embraces bold cinema" />
Red snapper papillote" />
the Legend of Pepita" />
This poem should make everyone pause and reflect.