Look, I have come through

Look, I have come through

I am emerging into new life

Not like a baby in the womb

But rather as a bulb

Hidden in the dark earth

Sends pale firm shoots

Up towards the unseen light.

For it is not a new life

I am emerging into

But a renewal

Like the bulb

That sends out its flower,

Ever the same yet always new.

After a long hibernation of lethargy,

The darkness of the loss of self

I seek light and colour,

Plant bright flowers in the garden,

Hang baskets of primrose petunias,

Listen to the songs of birds.

Those birds who helped me through,

The never-failing joy I took

In seeing them swoop down

To eat the seeds I scattered,

Splash and drink in the birdbath.

My birds and yet not mine.

Now as they hatch their young

I look forward to seeing them

Drop my seeds

Into their fledglings’ hungry mouths

As I hold my soul open

To new life.