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Early Crocuses
Gary Harrison

vagrant leaves skip and gather
helter skelter across the yard
beneath the bare limbs of vitex
and desert willow quivering
in the quickening wind
on this Valentine’s Day

just below the shivering trees
clumps of golden crocus peer
from green-speared stems
piercing the thawing ground
littered with broken walnuts
and dried bits of cedar bark

huddled clusters of yellow petals
unfurl into delicate cups
surrendering to morning sunlight
gathering against the brisk gusts
that buffet the black pines
and jostle the hardy junipers

.

—
Gary Harrison is a retired professor of English at the University of New Mexico. His poems have appeared in Abandoned Mine and A Wind Blows Through Us, an anthology of poems written by writers living in New Mexico. He is currently working on a collection of poetry tentatively titled Trailogues—poems inspired by his hikes and backpacking trips in Utah, Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico.

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