April Morning by Richard Martin

Looking out of the wide window this morning,
it came to me that green is the colour of hope –

rebirth, look at the chestnut unfolding its leaves,
or the birch's shimmer, the beech's green veil;

but then there's also white: the innocent cumulus
of the cherry, and the dogwood's diffident purity –

green promises future fruitfulness; summer to come,
whereas blossom is so temporary, a halfway house.

Let us sit back and gaze upon this present richness --
with relief that seasons move on, in spite of man.



Richard Martin is an English writer who lives in the Netherlands close to the point where Belgium, Germany and Holland meet. After retiring as a university teacher in Germany, he turned his attention to writing, and has published three collections of poetry and numerous poems in magazines in England, the US, and Austria.