Friday 8 February 2008

Wild Crocus

What a beautiful day, sun shining and some heat in it too. As I walked through the cemetery in the late afternoon sunshine it seemed Spring was here at last or at least coming soon. I've been meaning to take a picture of these wild crocus for years and only got round to it today, they are in the old part amongst the angels, tombs and crosses. Every year they give my spirits a lift as they appear from the earth, this year even earlier than usual in January.

First Crocus
This morning, flowers cracked open
the earth’s brown shell. Spring
leaves spilled everywhere
though winter’s stern hand
could come down again at any moment
to break the delicate yolk
of a new bloom.
The crocus don’t see this as they chatter
beneath a cheerful petal of spring sky.
They ignore the air’s brisk arm
as they peer at their fresh stems, step
on the leftover fragments
of old leaves.
When the night wind twists them to pieces,
they will die like this: laughing,
tossing their brilliant heads
in the bitter air.

©2007, Christine Klocek-Lim

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