Spring Shadows

Spring is in the earth if not the air
the hydrangeas are blatant
and the agapanthus rather coy.
The buddleia makes its annual break for freedom:
(cannot see the secateurs behind my back.)
The hellebores, so badly named, are still a joy
and pregnant buds begin to show upon the pear.

Elsewhere leaf buds sprinkle the crab
like droplets from an early shower,
while pansies and the daffs look calmly on
as if to say ‘what’s kept you?’
to celandine and primula.
And now, a little shy,
Peach blossom breaks against the sky.