Springtime...

The crocus pokes its tiny head up through the ice and snow

It dares to reach toward warmth above, though wreathed in cold below.

The buds on trees all slowly swell as sap begins to flow,

through branches bare the frigid air whistles loud and low.

Yet still the birds, long gone from view

come hopping to and fro

their sharp bright eyes espying tufts

of grass both old and new.

The long-dead grass upon the fields begins to stir and rise

to meet the gaze of mice and voles, whose beds their bodies 'prise.

The storms roll in, with fits and spurts- old Winter's slow to go

and yet each day brings brighter light and softer sunny glow.

The spring is here, with all it's sights and smells and sounds and joy

as life anew begins again, I remember as a boy

the magic golden, stirring air,

the smells of mud and must,

the sounds of birds, the nippy air,

Spring's loving gift of trust.

No longer young, but still amazed at Nature's golden gift

I love the spring, I love the soil, the chance to give a lift

to dormant souls, to hands hung down, to lives long overlooked,

My heart it thrills, the air, though chill, returns what once it took.

This spring my heart is softer, deeper, wounded, hardened, broke.

The sense of wonder still remains, as strong as any oak.

How do you feel when spring returns, are you as stirred as I?

Do longer days and warmer times engender a reply?

A sense of need, to love, to lead, to start anew today?

And if such sense be found in you, to what use can it be put?

Is there some long-forgotten friend, some stranger at the river bend,

a chance encounter on a street, a lonely child, a kitten (wild) among a tangled root?

From this day on, as spring does dawn, my heart's repurpose strains

to build my soul, to turn a dull and rusty sense of self

into a strong, and brilliant song of love, of peace, of health.

If there are those, whose brilliant rose of promise has been chilled

by my wintry days, my sullen gaze, my friendship's depth unfilled-

I beg you please allow this spring to once again renew

my chance to love, to praise, support, and be a friend to you.