Hope

Winter still,
there is a softness in the air,
and even the sparrows notice.
Green tips of snowdrops
probe for sun,
and dreams come
of flowers to be.
These are the wishes
of February,
the heart yearning for
the sweetness of
someday's garden.
Hope, a sturdier thing,
is when we buy the seeds.

--Timothy Haut, Feb. 21, 2016