Hares Leaping

February’s about to give way
to March winds and gales
that set catkins dancing,
and owls hooting and crying
their music of the night.

But they’re creatures of air;
spirits of spring are hares,
boxing and leaping all over
field and hedgerow with spring fever –
shadowy bookends to the working day.

Kim M. Russell, 27th February 2024

Image by Mathias Elle on Unsplash

It’s Tuesday, nearly the end of February, and at the dVerse Poets Pub it’s Poetics with Lisa, and all the poets are leaping!

Lisa says that 2024 is not only the year for the Chinese Zodiac Wood Dragon, it is also a Leap Year, and the only tradition she knows is that women can ask men to marry them. She has given us some delightful examples of poetry that include the word ‘leap’: lines from Roberta Hill Whiteman’s ‘Leap in the Dark’, Juan Felipe Herrera’s ‘We Are Remarkably Loud Not Masked’, Jennifer Michael Hecht’s ‘Not Stopping by a Woods on a Snowy Evening’, and Angela Jackson’s ‘Angelhair’.

Our challenge is to choose one (or all) of the following to write a poem: we can use the word or concept of leaping in our poems; or travel to magnetic poetry (or some other random word generator) and let the muse inspire us; or use the given image and write an ekphrastic poem. Leaping just made me think of hares.

40 thoughts on “Hares Leaping”

  11. As you may know dear Kim, the Brown Hare is a particular friend of mine (just try ‘hare’ in the search bar of writingpresence.com) and my heart leaps to encounter them again in your writing. In fact you haave encompassed so many of my core joys here: dance, music, catkins, owls… the wild air in spring…

    In previous years I have seen Hares both in Suffolk and in North Norfolk (near Heacham) and i wish that you might have a sighting too this year. In some interpretations they betoken “freedom”.

    May you enjoy the freedom of longer days and the mysterious magic of owls calling!

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    1. Thank you Kathy! I did spot a hare on the road to Great Yarmouth last year, which gave me great joy. I’ve written a fair few poems about hares and owls. Kindred spirits, I think. 😊

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  14. Spring fever is contagious and your words are carriers of it, Kim, how delightful to see through your eyes hares, those “spirits of spring,” those “shadowy bookends to the working day.” Lovely!

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  15. “May this Leap Day bring you luck as you bound forward, with each step filled with joy and each leap taking you closer to your dreams. Happy Leap Day!”

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