Snowdrops

Like me, like you
Snowdrops
Find themselves stuck in hard places.
Hostile places.

Like me, like you
They have an instinct to grow
And so they push against the frozen soil
And finally, unseen, pop out
Into the sunshine.

Whereupon
Like me, like you
They are snowed on, iced over, pelted with hailstones,
Stung by driving rain

Yet still they grow

Until one day
When winter has long dragged on,
Far too long,
One day,
With a silent peal of soft, white bells
They suddenly appear, transformed.

And look:
Their delightful presence is discreet
Their proud flowers, slightly bowed
They are not sunflowers, gloriously tall, shining out across the fields.
They have simply grown into
Themselves.

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Tagged as: change, creative writing, Growing older, inspiration, knowing ourselves, metaphor, poem, winter