Have you seen the little army rise?
between the solid sentries of the centuries,
breaking through the bitter ground
Galanthus Nivalis, Snowdrop to you and I,
they stand one hundred deep in mournful pose,
as if weeping at the graveside for lost loves,
brightness to show the worst of winter is over.

The assault troops, the commando flora,
pathfinders for the main body colour,
I see the yellow and purple crocus vernus,
so vibrant, a portent of warmth to come.
Offering air support, Carrion Crows shout the odds
across a place once so solemn, now freed,
the still bare trees forming a twig cathedral
where the dogs and walkers worship,
muddy paws and wellington boots,
screams of joy from small children
while squirrels forage furtively
lacking the summer camouflage.

Finally, the artillery, as the big guns move up,
along the bank, before the daffodils turn gold,
the variegated variety appears,
writ large upon the grassy banks
as Primula vie with delicate Spring Iris,
the seasons of my youth, more pronounced,
it all feels so early this year,
but then I reap the joy of Summer’s promise.

If youth had been willing to listen
To all that its grandfathers told,
If the gray-bearded sage by the weight of his age
Had been able attention to hold,
We'd be reading by candles and heating with wood,
And where we were then we'd have certainly stood.

If youth had been willing to listen
To the warnings and hints of the wise,
Had it taken as true all the best which they knew,
And believed that no higher we'd rise,
The windows of sick rooms would still be kept shut
And we'd still use a cobweb to bandage a cut.

If youth had been willing to listen,
Had it clung to the best of the past,
With oxen right now we'd be struggling to plough
And thinking a horse travels fast.
We'd have stood where we were beyond question or doubt
If some pestilent germ hadn't wiped us all out.

So, although I am gray at the temples,
And settled and fixed in my ways,
I wouldn't hold youth to the limits of truth
That I learned in my brief yesterdays.
And I say to myself as they come and they go:
"Those kids may find something this age doesn't know."