A ROSEBUD

“Spring is sooner recognised by plants than by men.” - Chinese Proverb

Oh, how Winter dawdles this year! It’s been so long and even though Spring is here, officially, today the weather was wintry, dreary, gray and wet. My office was cold and I put the heater on. I had to go out at lunchtime and after walking through the wet streets, battling with my umbrella, dashing in and out of arcades as I negotiated the length of the City, on the return I took a taxi as the rain started in earnest and I was laden with shopping bags. This evening when I got home, a single fragrant rosebud greeted me in a vase on my desk in my study. A loving hand had picked it from our garden and its beauty was evidence enough that Winter was departing…

A Rosebud

In driving rain and wind that bites
A rosebud braves the weather.
The sun is under leaden clouds,
But warms the cheery heather.

Departing Winter’s pallid shroud
Is spread on waking garden;
Each flower for its survival fights
Its will to live must harden.

It’s Spring but still, this Winter lingers
With tightened fist and claw persists;
And yet the smile of Flora, melts hearts,
Caresses buds and for her ally sun enlists.

Winter shuffles along, but still departs:
No more the snow, and ice has melted.
Spring touches with her gentle fingers,
And Chloris is with bright daisies belted.

The rose has bloomed, the lily richly smiles!
Love beckons, Spring’s here with her wiles.