Never Too Soon

The winter we welcomed so
fervently in December, appreciating
the newfallen snow's virtues in
icing the dreary spectacle of bared
trees and the skeletal aspect of a
late fall landscape had worn thin
its welcome by April, yet still it
lingered. The unseasonal cold, the
brazen wind, frustrating snow events
turned to freezing rain as we
angrily yanked the welcome mat
for one that crabbily read: "Go already!"
Yet winter mocked us and refused
to exit. Now, as May approaches
and thick ice layers still linger,
the sere, desiccated appearance
of the urban forest mimics fall.
Except, thank you, nature, the 
forest floor nearby our home has
been spring-colonized by trout lilies
preparing to bloom, and wild
strawberry greens are in evidence,
so too signs that Serviceberry will
bloom briefly, and the first evidence
of trilliums remembering their spring
greeting have burst from the soil...!