Spring is Gone! Next Up? SUMMER!

the passage of spring

the first rain of spring,
washing away the remaining dirt
of winter snow
is a distant memory....
crocuses have called it
tulips and daffs have said their good-byes
no trace of trilliums in the woods
pussywillows are past in their gray fur coats
forlorn forsythia, bare once again
lily-of-the-valley are no longer fragrant
a robin pecking for worms
in the early dew-dipped grass
holds no first-rites-of-spring wonder for me
even the rhubarb leaves are punctured
with holes from hungry insects
and I have already dipped one ripe red stalk
in sugar........

spring's sweetness has been savoured

Mother of Invention, missing the freshness of a new spring just a little.....