A year ago today, I wandered through nearby fields
where I found flowers blooming in
defiance of the calendar. I posted them
now because I am in need of a bit of sunlight,
a bright happy patch onto which I can
hang my longing for a happier scene,
one that does not seem to have wrapped
us in a cold, itchy blanket.
The sunlight had even brought out the colors in this thorn tree;
the pale light honing the thorns to a sharper edge,
shiny black against their blue stems, with dark blood red
shadows warning of their dangers.
