False Spring

Tender rain kisses the ice-ravaged earth
as winter releases her talons.
The first tender blades of grass
ease their way out of the darkness
into the gentle sunlight.
What fools these first leaves are!
Even the tulip and crocus know
it's January, not June.
And the thaw they feel is temporary,
and the biting winds will come again.
Nature teaches patience to the flowers
through trial,
through death.
And I, like them,
will not be fooled again
by the early rains
of January.