Imbolc

In February
All of a sudden there's a lot more light
And it's a warm light - snow melts off the roof,
The first lambs are born in the barn cellar,
The hens start laying, the mare comes into season,
And I notice that the geraniums at the window
Have pushed their stalks up eight inches
And covered them with brick-pink blossoms.

Every day I wake up earlier
And my bones crack as I sit up and stretch.
When I poke my boot through a drift in the field
I find clover growing green beneath it.
Now the sap is running,
And when I drive my sleigh up to the wood lot
I see three young maple bushes
Deeply scored with new bear scratches.

Oh warm light,
Couldn't you have waited a little longer?
How safe we were in the dead of winter,
How gently we dreamed,
How beautiful it was to sleep under the snow!

Kate Barnes