braintreebrat: blog 
braintreebrat's blog
for the troops
Published Jul. 21, 2008
Daffodils in the Desert
Jan 14, 91
11:43pm
In my garden tonight I saw peeping out
The green tops of the new daffodils.
Braving the cold, they stood in clumps
Like fledgling soldiers; innocent, fragile.
I walked to their imprudent patch, my breath
Spilling into the frosty night like a vapor.
“Not yet,” I whispered, imploring. “It’s still winter.
You’ll die in the first frost, before you bloom.”
The silly things heeded me not, but stood
Adamant and shy, eager for the spring breezes.
I feared for them, but was humbled and buoyed -
Awed by their faith in the nudges nature gives.
Leaving the garden, I looked out to the cold night.
“What coaxed them out?” I asked the heavens.
The stars gazed back; bright, remorseless.
Not for me tonight those inviolable secrets.
- - - - -
Far away, my lover’s sky coaxes a different garden.
His stars gaze bright on silver sand and tanks and planes.
And his stars, too, watch daffodils in the desert -
Those fledgling soldiers; innocent, fragile.
*****************************
Author’s note. This was written in 1991 on the eve of the deadline for Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait. My husband was over there, and there was a terrible fear of chemical weapons and a lengthy battle.
This is dedicated to all of our volunteer forces, who joined the military to fight and protect us. May God protect them
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