The cattail sheds its ragged over-coat
The pond, released from winter’s icy clutch
Lies mute, an amber gem on earth’s dull throat
As sepia landscapes ache for April’s touch
The sun frolics among the tumbled hills
Of cumulus and cirrus rivalry
And in the maple tree a robin trills
In carols of dissonant harmony
Ah spring, push back stark winter’s stricken shroud
And wash the earth with tears from heaven’s cloud
Renew love’s song upon our tepid lips
And stir within our hearts re-surging hope
As earth responds to verdant fingertips
We tune our ear to heaven’s calliope
For nature throbs with newness and with life
The old has passed away and it is done
Come; thrust aside the chains of harbored strife
Redemption sings in violet undertone
No merit dwells in trampled husks of loss
Come, leap for joy, as sorrow sheds its dross
As surely as when winter turns to spring
As surely as the bud inspiring bloom
As surely as faith’s quiet offering
So too, God’s grace dispels our cloak of doom
Come; cast aside your worry and despair
Tomorrow’s needs have never yet been met
Inhale the passion tinting fragrant air
The darling of life’s seasons lifts her head
With promises, not coin-tossed in the dark
She spreads her garments over hilltops stark
The thunder meditates in vaulted plains
It rolls in afterthought along its berth
Delivering the tune of sudden rains
To limbs up-lifted from the patient earth
And now the dormant still-life bursts with zest
As emerald kaleidoscopes of glory surge
An ocean rushing to the azure crest
Where land and sky in one grand hymn converge
Ah spring, the harbinger of sun-filled days
We lift with nature’s voice our songs of praise
© Janet Martin
