Choirs of larks start singing Sun’s praises
earlier and earlier every day.
Cheerfully they repeat lyric phrases
which signal marriage, war, danger and play.
Not a single leaf has yet unfolded;
morning is yet too cold and too breezy.
‘Round each footfall, muddy ground is molded,
and stag’s route through undergrowth is easy.
Now green appears in lawns of grassy gold.
Now magnolia aches to burst into bloom.
Tired owl retreats; sparrow becomes bold;
sunlight shreds the remnant of winter’s gloom.
Air carries scents of change and transition:
earth renewed with one eye on tradition.
