Waltz of the Winter Aconites

Would you like to go wandering down in the woods
where there’s shelter from February breeze,
in the hedgehog and badger and bird neighbourhoods,
and among all the Winter-bare trees?

Pack a picnic, perhaps, with a flask for some soup,
and start out to the ash-and-oak grove;
we shall meet you here, mingling in glad golden group,
freshly sprung from the earth’s treasure trove.

Please don’t sit on us, pick us or eat us all up –
though we’re pretty, we’re poisonous too!
Simply smile at us, shining like stars, while you sup,
before Spring sounds her bells in bright blue.

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Published on The Dirigible Balloon, February 2024

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In February 2015, Word-Bird and I enjoyed a trip to Rodmarton Manor with a few family members, chiefly for W.-B.’s birthday. The gardens at Rodmarton are renowned for their snowdrops, and we very much enjoyed our snowdrop sightings throughout the visit. Afterwards, we wrote two poems inspired by the dainty white flowers. A few years later, both were revised and subsequently published on The HyperTexts; our thanks to Mike Burch as usual. The two poems also appear in my second collection; one is a sonnet and the other a song.

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My younger brother had accompanied us on the trip, taking photos to make up a little album. I tend to look back through my photo albums around Christmas, and on doing this in 2023 I came across the above photo, featuring the famous snowdrops and also the winter aconites. The Dirigible Balloon happened to have a submissions window open through January 2024, so I thought I’d write something inspired by the winter aconites for a change. I was delighted when Editor Jonathan Humble accepted both the poem and the photo for TDB; thank you!

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Next: Meet Chlorophyll!