Unseasoned daffodils push sampling shoots into the air.
Do they wonder why they have been summoned so early,
Ask why there was no frost to hold them sleeping for just a few weeks more?
Will they understand when their pale probes greenly ripen too quickly, when their flowers bloom and fall before their time?
Who will notice they have come and gone?
Hearts once burning full, turn silent cold;
Hands stiffened by absence no longer reach for a caress.
Heat too fast does not burn away pain, but scars.
Who will risk that touch?
The daffodils rise to an orange sky,
Pushed through scorched earth
Littered with the skeletons of those who could not run fast enough.
Who will be left to breathe when the earth burns and the skies fill with ash?
Who will be left to drink water poisoned by glittering fallout?
Who will be left waiting for daffodils when the inferno consumes it all?
Like this:
Like Loading...
Related
About michaelstephendaigle
I am the author of the award-winning Frank Nagler Mystery series. "The Swamps of Jersey (2014); "A Game Called Dead" (2016) -- a Runner-Up in the 2016 Shelf Unbound Indie Author Contest; "The Weight of Living" (2017) -- “The Weight of Living” was awarded First Place for mysteries in the 2017 Royal Dragonfly Book Award contest;
Named A Notable 100 Book, Shelf Unbound 2018 Indie Book Awards;
Named a Distinguished Favorite, 2018 Independent Press Awards.
Named a Distinguished Favorite in the 2018 Big NYC Book Contest.
Named a Finalist in the 2019 Book Excellence Awards.
Named A Gold Star Award winner in the 2020 Elite Choice Book Awards
Named a Book Award Winner in 2021 by Maincraft Media Fiction Book Awards;
The Red Hand (2019) a Distinguished Favorite in the 2019 Big NYC Book Contest
Named Second Place winner for mysteries in the 2019 Royal Dragonfly Book Awards
Named a Notable 100 Book in the 2019 Shelf Unbound Indie Book Awards
Named a Distinguished Favorite in the 2020 Independent Press Awards
A Nominee in the 2020 TopShelf Book Awards
Named A Gold Star Award winner in the 2020 Elite Choice Book Awards
Dragony Rising (2022) First Place for Mysteries in the 2022 Royal Dragonyfly Book Awards; named a Notable 100 Indie Book in the 2022 Shelf Unbound Indie Book Awards; A Distinguished Favorite in the 2023 Independent Press Awards. A Distinguished Favorite in the 2023 Big NYC Book Awards.
Heat too fast does not burn away pain, but scars.
Michael,
Very vivid, and touching, poem.
I would love to have your permission to read it during a Sunday Service at the Morristown Unitarian Fellowship. With a proper acknowledgement, of course.
Hi Jo.. permission granted. Thanks very much
Outstanding. You’re welcome