Cherries Are Ripe

The cherry tree is red now;

Cherry tree nods his red head

And calls to the sun:

Let down the birds out of the sky;

Send home the birds to build nests in my arms,

For I am ready to feed them.

There is a little girl coming for cherries too . . .

(I am that little girl, I who am singing . . .)

She is coming with hair flying!

The butterflies will be going (says the cherry)

For it is getting dusk.

When it is dawn,

They will be up and out with the dew,

And sparkle as the dew does

On the tips of tall slender green grasses

Around my feet,

Or on the cheeks of fruit I have ripened,

Red cherries for birds

And children.