Tilt Toward Spring
Night’s frozen mantle sparks
in early morning rays, luminous
as a bride’s new diamonds.
Tree’s crystalline coatings
slip soundlessly from drooping
branches, twinkling fairy lights
pirouetting to the ground.
Ice sheets slide from the eaves
dropping iridescence on unsuspecting
tender daffodils waking from winter
slumber.
Air comes alive with birdsong
and fluttering wings.
Lawn strewn with early robins,
pecking for sustenance, puffing
their breasts for warmth.
Signaling Earth’s inevitable tilt
toward spring.
— Patricia Bergan Coe