SPRING DAY

Today is Spring Day!
Open your arms and welcome its awakening.
Sing out loud; dance a jig; float to the moon and touch the stars,
The long Winter has gone.
The bitter days have sunk into the majestic, rolling hills.

A cold breeze drifts around stirring the tender leaves.
I lift my head and sigh.
My thoughts reach out to embrace
the evidence of new life; the wondrous signs;
the dawning anew
of another beautiful Spring.

A patch of pristine snowdrops nestles beneath a willow tree.
They shiver, their heads bowed in homage,
not knowing the joy they bring.
Crocuses spear from the ground searching for light.
Will they be yellow; orange; purple,
or a perfect, lavender striped, white?

A sparrow pokes around, searching the still hard ground.
He fluffs up his plumage and chirps merrily, calling his mate.
She answers. They dive into the hawthorn hedge
to build their nest, to be filled with tiny, blue speckled eggs.
My ears will welcome the persistent chirps,
of their fragile babies.

I turn my thoughts to open spaces that drift with daffodils and tulips.
The hedgerows burst with life and the hills are green.
But then – I stop, and search my heart.
I thank our Lord for giving me this Spring Day to enjoy.
Then turn away and weep for the tragic people in our world who
cannot know this beauty, only suffering.