It Must Be Spring Again
The air is clear and crisp today
_While walking through my garden.
A morning shower comes to play,
_But then it begs my pardon.
The blended scent of flowers blooms,
_And scrubs the morning air.
A bee seems drunk on their perfumes
_And wanders everywhere.
The daffodils are laughing now.
_They’ve opened up their petals.
The bee holds still as if to bow,
_Then on a jonquil settles.
The sky is blue. The clouds are gone.
_The garden path is sunny.
The happy bee now flies along.
_She’s off to make some honey.
I love my flowers everywhere;
_Their dancing limbs begin
Onstage, where bees and I prepare.
_It must be spring again.
The Sunshine Is Back
The clouds were overwhelming me.
_I felt I was distressed.
When will I ever see the sun?
_My heart was so depressed.
“Bring back the sun!” I wished inside.
_“I need to see the sun.”
I told the sky, I told the wall,
_I told to everyone.
I saw the sun come back again.
_I greeted it with a smile.
“Mr. Sun, I welcome you.
_Why don’t you stay a while?”
Mr. Sun shone back at me:
_“I never went away.
I may get hidden by a cloud,
_But I shine every day.
“Why waver in your happiness?
_You too can play your part
By giving smiles to other folks;
_Your love shines from your heart.”
LTC Roy E. Peterson, US Army Military Intelligence and Russian Foreign Area Officer (Retired) has published more than 6,750 poems in 95 of his 118 books. He has been an Army Attaché in Moscow, Commander of INF Portal Monitoring in Votkinsk, first US Foreign Commercial Officer in Vladivostok, Russia and Regional Manager in the Russian Far East for IBM. He holds a BA, Hardin-Simmons University (Political Science); MA, University of Arizona (Political Science); MA, University of Southern California (Int. Relations) and MBA University of Phoenix. He taught at the University of Arizona, Western New Mexico University, University of Maryland, Travel University and the University of Phoenix.
Thanks Roy – I share your joy for the bees: they are wonderful little critters! And I hope you – like me- take your pollen and raw honey every day! Thanks – very delightful.
Thank you so much James for your comments and recommendation. Since you eat raw honey daily, you should live to write your wonderful and influential poetry for several more decades.
These are certainly refreshing poems, Roy. They just zip along blithely and invite the reader to join in the general rejoicing. And why not? The weather is fine, and, as we are reminded, we are perfectly capable of setting up a wholesome state of mind. As always, nature instructs, and we do well to pay attention. By all means, let us take part in spring. Thanks for the pleasant reminder! I see also that you have a fine picture to accompany the verses.
I do enjoy bucolic settings and writing about it. Serene settings inspire serene writing. Thank you for your kind comments.
If the Bee is making honey, or active in the spring, it’s a female.
Excellent point Fred. I will make the change, since I sense it may become an issue for others. I actually debated the strict use of the drone not “making honey” with the chance for a double entendre, which possibly, unfortunately, I use a lot in my poems, perhaps to my detriment. “Making honey” in this case is for approaching a female out of the hive. Drones do fly outside the hive, and they actually leave quite regularly. Their flights aren’t for work like the female workers, but for one purpose–fly to drone congregation areas where they attempt to mate with a virgin queen. Thank you for your comment.
What a beautiful pair of sunny poems, Roy! And like this portion of the seasonal round, they get better and more inspirational as they go. You’ve made a happy smile; please accept one from me in return!
Bless you, Margaret, for inspiring comments. Your happy smile made my day.
Roy, I needed these lovely poems today. In a world presently drowning in a toxic brew of hate, rage, stress and horror, your charming poems about Spring and sunshine are like a balm for the soul. Hope springs eternal. And your second poem reminded me — joyfully — of the country classic “Keep on the Sunny Side.”
What wonderful comments, Brian. I had forgotten about the country classic, “Keep on the Sunny Side.” Thank you for your comments that bring joy back to me from your precious appreciation.
Rhyming ‘garden’ so faultlessly and humorously with ‘pardon’, you deserve a medal.
Two uplifting poems. The second one reminded me of one of my all time favourite songs, ‘Mr. Blue Sky’, and equally left me smiling.
Thanks for the reads, Roy.
Paul, thank you so much for your uplifting comments. I appreciate them so much.
I enjoy the light-hearted tone of these poems! They nearly dance with rhythm.
Super comment, Margaret. I am glad you enjoyed them.
The most beautiful and uplifting time of year is the Spring and these two poems sing of its joyfulness. Thank you Roy.
I agree with you, Norma. Thank you for your precious comment.
Thank you for these lovely, happy spring poems, I really enjoyed reading them! It’s always wonderful to see winter weather retreat and watch spring approach and you are describing the process so well. Have a blessed spring season!
I bless you in return, Yael, and thank you for your comments.
First of all, Roy, thanks for your military service and protection of the country and all citizens!
I enjoyed the musical consistency of the ballad meter in both of these pieces. They both provide a steady flow of much-needed optimism. The first poem has a gentle, folk-song bounce and a comforting pastoral setting. The dialogue with the sun is light and clever, delivering words of wisdom!
Thank you so much for your kind comments and acknowledging my military service. As I recall, there once was an Admiral Zumwalt. Related? Sometimes I do put on a musical hat having been in many country bands, writing songs, and forming a touring gospel quartet.
I enjoyed “The Sunshine is Back” best. It was mellifluous to my inner ear. I’m in California, so the overbearing winter is not as much as a problem. But even here, it’s nice to feel the Sun’s warmth increase. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you Paul. I love the use of “mellifluous.” I have lived in Monterey, Salinas, Oceanside, Temecula, and Menifee, California myself for short times.
Paul, thank you for your kind comments. FYI: I l briefly lived in California several times for short periods including Monterey, Salinas, Oceanside, Menifee, Temecula, and Victorville.
I’ve only been to oceanside and passed through Temecula, I think. I’ve lived in San Diego (Chula Vista), and in the outskirts of Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Valley in a town called Glendora. I just learned the word mellifluous recently, and desire to retain it; your poem seemed apt for using it.
Roy, your line about the bee smelling the perfume’s accurate. Evoked the 5 years I spent on a farm with a store. After work in the fields, I’d mind the store in the afternoon. There, wasps were bad; they’d light on the blackberries for sale. Enemy’s Air Force. We had kids in there, and mothers; this was bad for business, and their health and well-being! My sport? watch him drink. Minding the place of my fingernail, real important, I’d fast-flick him cross the store. 8 foot horizontal trajectory. On the concrete floor, he’d be groggy. The rest? History.
…again, the worker wasps that would be doing this are females.
Alec, great story. I am so thankful you shared it and I commiserate with you. I grew up on a farm in South Dakota until our family moved to Texas when I was thirteen. My dad had more than a dozen beehives in the alfalfa field and we had wasps in the mulberry trees. My grandfather gave me a set of used encyclopedias, and I learned about the birds and bees (the real ones), because the only entertainment we had was the battery powered radio that was turned on parsimoniously for three to four hours at a time. We had no electricity.