TIME MARCHES ON

a great full moon
the sunrises advance
the nights retreat
the sun warms the frosty ground
little flowers push their tentative heads up
through the hard earth
and say 'yes, we're ready'
first the snowdrops
then the crocuses
purple, yellow, white and pale blue
now the daffodil shoots
their flowers will bloom soon
on my way back from sarehole mill
as i turn the bend into corvedale
i meet sweet barbara anne
out on her own
for a bracing constitutional
in the winter of life
she emerges into a new spring
a spring like no other
a bit of a spring in her step
it's been a dark gloomy winter for the family
a winter full of uncertainty
of difficult questions
and inconclusive answers
but we may have turned a corner