RETURN OF THE LADY
Where blackthorn buds and hazel catkins cluster,
and virgin spears pierce frosty, quickening earth,
Where blackbirds don sleek suits of glossy splendour,
and lambs life limp and steaming after birth.
Where pale, full moon brings swollen spring-time tides,
and icy melt floods river, lake and stream,
Where a candle burns in still anticipation,
and prophecies unfold, divined, as in a dream.
Where Sirius, sparkling, lights the dawn horizon,
and warmth and life returns to lengthen days.
Where creatures stir, renewed from winter slumbers,
the Bride awakens, reborn, transformed, and stays.
by Heather Shackleton
