The Garden in Winter

The Garden in Winter

January 7, 1999

Wayne Danielson

The Garden in Winter

The garden in winter refuses to die,

Still poking green shoots into subfreezing air,

Defying the sleet with an insolent cry

Of bright, purple crocuses hugging the stair.

Take that, cruel winter! they gleefully sing,

Your frost-bitten howling can do us no harm.

We’re here to announce the rebirth of spring;

The earth, if you’ve noticed, is starting to warm.

For bulbs have been planted and seeds have been sown,

And under the snowdrifts, the roses are green.

The trees, far from dying, have actually grown,

And robins, we hear, have already been seen.

Your darkness, stern master, is doomed to defeat.

Did you really think you could conquer the light?

Your snows and your ice storms are now in retreat,

And rivulets sparkle like stars in the night.