In honour of the 1st day of Spring 2015, I am posting a poem I wrote in 2002 while learning the art of writing poetry with Tom Torrance.
The Promise is my variation on the Sestina form, written about the changes taking place underneath the ground in the garden, during the transition between the seasons. I hope you enjoy it!
The Promise
Cold blizzard winds and winter snow
White flurry blowing soft and deep
Illumed in quiet moonlit glow
A springtime promise yet to keep
As bulbs and flowers far below
Embrace their long-awaited sleep
Embedded silently and deep
Untouched by warmth of sunny glow
The life-signs of the dormant, keep
A splendid secret far below
In frigid beds, new beauties sleep
Unconscious of bone-chilling snow
The charming blooms of future glow
Regrettably will have to keep
Though moisture trickles down below
To wake the drowsy as they sleep
Just one more blast of icy snow
Delays new growth in snow piles deep
A fresh beginning soon to keep
With new roots stirring far below
As sprouting takes the place of sleep
Sun warmed soil where once only snow
And spring rains making puddles deep
Create a wholesome springtime glow
And so from dreamland far below
Reaching upwards from restful sleep
Towards the clouds as white as snow
Fragile flora out of the deep
A soft and misty verdant glow
Becomes the promise now to keep
Caressing all, once rapt in sleep
Like tulips, white as winter snow
From clouds above so soft and deep
Bright sunlight shining amber glow
And in the garden, secrets keep
Forever changing all below
And when again the snow is deep
This glory keep from summer’s glow
While below, new promises sleep
