Alpine Spring

For someone close to my heart.

Alpine Spring
6-25-10

White flowers bloom between mineral graves;
The spring brings the welcome scent again,
Pushing through the snow, stubborn and determined,
The edelweiss smiles at the forgotten sun.

The sun subtly reminds the grass to awaken,
Widening the eyes of cattle with a fresh meal;
As he waits to find the calling horizon,
He pinches the tender skin of the sleeping shepherd.

Where have you been, oh sun, to revive us?
Give us your warmth to grow and thrive.
Give us our legs, our strength to carry us.
And give us our shepherd, oh sun, to lead us.

The sunkissed shepherd covers his head,
Shading his eyes and cooling his raspberry face.
With staff in hand and a deep inhale of melting alpine frost,
His potent whistle challenges the commencing cowbells.

Two-toed two-toned beasts stretch and recoil,
Sighing with the crow of the blue and yellow rooster.
Anxious to find their safe and healthy home,
They find patience within the sun-given brooks.

Moist noses investigate the fossilized grass
Under the blooming seeds that catch themselves
Between heavy plodding hooves pulling
The great spotted masses up toward the sun.

Mud and stone and slush and snow
Steal the sweet air from shallow gasping lungs;
One after another, the ringing train
Waddles onward with hopes of resolution.

Anxious silence settles among the halted calves,
Nudging the great meadow gates, listening
For their shepherd's beckon amidst the fog
As the sun melts through the thick air.

Welcomed home with dissipating stratus,
The shepherd clicks the gate closed after his herd.
With a pitcher of fresh milk to garnish the porch table,
The edelweiss smiles at the setting sun.