Faith in Spring

by ​Carol Shillibeer

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The day is grey. Rain spits, changes itself into snow,
rain again as it seeps through late-winter mats
in the graveyard –
 
roots of dead daisies, knots of wild-rose roots,
suckers lifting their necks from icy ground,
deep red of a living rose. Wildness comes
in before spring, brings with it hope
on its tender thorns –
 
would that you could come up from the grave
so easily.

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Carol Shillibeer's poems and stories have been published in many print and online publications, and received nominations for both Pushcart and Best of Net. One of her most recent manuscripts, language be like, won the 2025 Alfred G. Bailey Prize for poetry, and another, Dear John: Trickster Tales, was longlisted by Dithering Chaps.

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