photo by Dan Schatz
Each morning
in winter
I walk to the old dogwood tree
that stretches over the front yard.
I am waiting for a sign.
Through the earliest days
there is nothing to see
more than January ice,
hard against the ground,
then mud
as snows melt,
then ice again,
but one sunny morning
comes something new.
Powerful and green
daffodil shoots
begin to work their way above the soil.
Winter will be a long time yet.
More snows will come,
and ice
and cold
and April will seem distant.
Do not be afraid.
Hope will
push through
frozen ground,
always,
and forever.
Dan Schatz
January 23, 2018
The Song and the Sigh 