Dave Bonta's "Return of the warblers" is a quiet snapshot of early spring, built from three small moments. First, mayapples push up through the soil, and the poet compares their leaves to green parasols that shake off the dirt as they open. Then a coyote trots across the road and glances back over its shoulder, as if checking whether anyone is following, or perhaps noticing the speaker watching. Finally, over a pond whose surface trembles, the first warblers begin to sing their buzzy songs.
The speaker never says how they feel, but the attention they pay says a lot. They seem calm, curious, and pleased by small signs of change. The mood is hushed and fresh, with a little wariness in the coyote's backward look. Each scene is short and plain, and the poem simply lets spring show itself: plants, animal, birdsong. The title tells us the warblers are back, and the poem leaves us standing there, listening.