Two Poems for Spring

that other March

my star magnolia in bud

presides in fisted beauty by the wall

bulbs in my garden spiking through the mud

as black birds call.

reminders of that other March

my young son packed to leave

burdened with desert camouflage

the garden bursting into leaf

my star magnolia in bud

bulbs in my garden spiking through the mud.

Spring

The street is sudden pink blossom;

the pavement a hopscotch of sun

that glitters and skitters down

railings and dances on bumper and pram

in a street of sudden pink blossom

the trumpet of car horn and drum

of the feet of early commuters

has a beat less wearisome

down a street of sudden pink blossom

(surely yesterday’s branches were bare?)

Spring arrived overnight with a blush on

and flowers in her hair.

Chrys Salt