Mirage

Away in the Southland, Spring came early, And flowers blossomed overnight; This should have made my heart beat faster, As I gazed in awe at the magic sight. Then I thought of my home in the distant Northland, And somehow life didn’t seem just right. I curled my fingers to form a spyglass, And shield my eyes from the noontime glare, And through this opening I saw in wonder A fragment of drift-ice, floating there . . . A clamper of drift-ice, moving slowly . . . Strange how the memory of childhood clings, Sapphire colors of Spring in the Northland, Rainbow lights on a sea-gull’s wings.