Every time I walked into the hills behind my house, I heard it.
The warm breeze gently nudging the tall grass slowly to one side, and then back.
I hear a soft sound emanating from the old telephone pole, which no one notices, behind me.
Peck. Peck. Peck.

As the sky nears darkness.
My curiosity gives me no choice.
I swivel myself around.

Quick as a wink,
whatever making the sound on the pole disappeared.
All six nights prior to this one, I did not try and greet
the new visitor in the neighborhood. Why not now?

I tiptoe over past the telephone pole, and glance up.
I see a small bundle of sticks and a bird.
A woodpecker.
A woodpecker, preparing for a family.
This, I realize, is a sign of new life.
Spring has sprung.
Another chapter in the history of the world.