Spring's Musings

I have, oft' times, thought of the dusk
The sorrow of the dying thrush
That clings to life, when gripping frost
Is all that then remains.
I have, in turn, thought of the dawn
The birthday of a gentle fawn
When spring returns, to bless the lawn
And finger sprouting grain.
'Tis human nature to conclude
Each changing of the spirit's mood
One nicety, and then one rude
Like temporary days.
But should we, bitter like the knaves
In season, forget wanton praise:
Let us, from God's eternal grace
Look more to the spring, than winter.

Scarlet Dusk

Relentlessly the gold dusk spreads
And conquers sea and stone:
To swallow whole, in birthing night,
The blood of crimson gloam:
The spill of scarlet fire-foam;
The lark ascends, and cries
And someone heads with gladness, home:
"Goodnight!" The daylight dies.

Hope in Summer

Take the light and let it in
Sunshine on my browning skin
Summer light is different then
Winter light in way back when.
Take the sun and catch the rays
Falling moon and passing days
Stars like white cinnamon glaze
On my laughing, lifted face.
Can't believe I used to think
I was at the chasm's brink
Summer brings, and summer breathes
Showing me the emerald leaves.
Don't forget the skipping brook
Don't deny the gentle look
Of the deer upon her run
In the gleaming summer sun.

Silence Before Springtime

There's silence in the springtime,
Before the birds have flown:
A waiting sunshine silence
That casts off winter's gown.
Before the bees have followed
The course upon the bloom
Before the deer have given
A breath in flowered rooms,
Before the tree has sprouted
Or streams have slapped and run
A silence coats the valleys
Like calm before the storm.
Then comes the burst of raindrops
The flying wings of life
The hymns of little songsters
That stir the melting ice:
The sudden whip of madness
Which comes from mate to mate
The sweetness, goodness, gladness
Of creatures small and great.
The silence, like a whirlwind
Has passed from hand to hand
And lies now in the pasture
Of springtime's promise land.

Sign of Spring

There's snow that coats the wooden post---
It's melting..then, the melt is lost;
The sun with chipper steps proceeds
To gobble up the post with greed.
A robin sits upon the top
He sings a song and hops a hop
Then flies away, while left behind
A blossom lies beneath the sky.
The blossom's petals blow and show
The mirrored, waving growth below
What once was cold upon the post
Is purer, melted from the snow.

The Sunshine Award

The sun shines on the golden sea:
'Tis only I, myself, and me---
The clouds, the shore, the rolling surf
The waves like aqua-swelling turf.
This, Nature, is my fair reward
And swells my soul with gentle chords
That play upon my peaceful eyes
And echo back the spreading skies.
This is the life we all must seek:
From hour, day, and rolling week...
Let us, together, feel the sod
And feeling, touch our graceful God.
*Thank you for the sunshine award, Creative A! You made my day!

Christ in Nature

From the hill and from the rill
From the beak and from the bill
Life bursts out, and life is sung:
"Reigns the King and shines the Son!"
From the summit and the deep
From those waking and asleep
Love sings out, and love declares:
"Justice great, and Savior fair!"
Oh, that all would always see
Life and love from Him who frees
He who breaks the sinful dart
Saves the soul and cures the heart.

Waves of Snow

Was it sand? Or was it snow?
Spindly lines that daily grow
Out in waves of blue and white
Vanishing upon our sight.
Was it sand? Or was it snow?
Hills and vales that flip and flow
Like the undulating hand of seas
Lost in hissing, crystal breeze.
Was it sand? Or was it snow?
Man will never guess, or know
Staring out across the space
Of the blank, uncharted place.

Allegorical Winter and Spring

Life is spring to those who love it,
To those who coddle life, and show it:
Life, to them, is petaled roses
And bits of fresh, ephemeral proses.
Although each day may pass---though brief---
They cherish soft, unfurling leaves
And winds that pass with gentle sighs
And love that never wilts or dies.
Life to those who hate, is winter
'Tis death to that engaging sinner
And darkness, filled with lakes of frost
The tidal foam, the withered moss.
In every hour, minute, day
The thought is only wrapped on pain
Despair is deep, like snowy vales
That perish in the streaking hails.
To those who love, and loving, live
'Tis spring, a time to serve and give:
To those who hate, and hating, kill
'Tis winter, breaking heart and will.

Ice Universe

Frail branches pierce the silent sky
The sun is dipped in silver dye
The moon looks like a frozen plate
And shivers down on country gates.
The stars are hid in hoary capes
Like glass, their splintered, gleaming shapes
Are paused upon the glitt'ring eye
Of lakes in dead, unflowing rye.
A puff of ice, a twirl of cloud
Are equably caught in the shroud
Of sky and stars and frozen moon
That spread across the winter gloom.