Waiting Out Winter
by Annie Jenkin

Trees play the wind's loud music
and dance to its rhythm,
flaying strong boughs
to twist and spin young branches.
Some break away
to lay on the ground.

Owls and foxes take shelter
and birds bury their heads,
huddle up in nests,
to wait out this all-night party.
Badgers and mice
still snuffle and scuttle about,

through hedgerows
and under a five-bar gate.
Dim daylight, hidden by clouds,
barely scrapes the hillside,
but it's enough to waken
snowdrops and daffodils.

Shaped like shepherd crooks
stems of bluebells will rise,
to show off their tiny lanterns
of violet and blue hue.
It's then we know that spring
has well and truly arrived.



 

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