First Flowers of Spring: A Poem

 

At first, the birds sing the song of their return. 

Then the sun stays out a little longer 

The clouds of winter reveal pockets of blue 

Green sprouting buds blanket the dirt 

It's been over a year that I've walked the same path 

Watching the beauty decay into piles 

The green turned to brown and withered away 

I reminisce over the colors that brightened my day

Today I went walking the very same way 

Struck by the single bright rose in full bloom 

All of her sisters are still tucked away

She blossomed early and will be first to fade 

A genuine smile formed on my lips 

to see all of the vibrance return to the trees 

Then I noticed some that were already dying

Withering away before the height of Spring

They once stood alone, radiant and proud

a sight to behold among thistles and leaves 

But now others are blooming in novel variety 

As quickly as it rose, its splendor wanes 

Old and decaying, it envies new buds

The others will grow in bouquets together 

Painting the bush with fullness and brilliance 

But they too will wither and fall out of season 

It is the nature of spring to rapidly rise 

until the hot summer sun blazes above 

scorching the earth and all therein  

torching the flowers and broiling the leaves

So, I take their pictures as I pass by 

in the height of their beauty 

because its only for a moment 

and it won't come again

For the rose I saw once 

Is not the same rose this year

And next year will be another

but never seen again