yolk-yellow

at the turn of the year
at the turn of the sun
I was alive
I was aware

I wandered alone
along the hawthorn hedges
I meandered long
along the galloping brooks

I watched the clouds passing
in the puddle on the path
I caught the kestrel circling
in the corner of my eye

I glimpsed the goldfish
nudging the crust of ice
and the yolk-yellow crocus
breaking out of the earth

I held the pinecone
in the hollow of my hand
I held the goldcrest
in the hollow of my heart

Christina Egan ©2024

Written in January, when we have only just passed winter solstice, but in the south of England, the first daffodils famously open.

I remembered the goldfish under the ice when I saw the long yellow flowers of the crocuses coming up.

Photograph: Christina Egan ©2017.