Spring Contest Poetry Co-Winner: “Jasmine Star” by Stephen Kingsnorth

I’m weary with this blanket wrap
of fog or snow, ground war dead clogged,
but then remember under feet
those sacrifices, autumn spread,
the fallen as of golden youth,
with winter hopes yet stratified
’mongst mycorrhiza, worldwide web,
while greys and browns are all around.

Think aconite, hellebore,
those lightning stars of yellow strike
to break monotony of rime
that seals the prevalence of death.
How dare these petals risk the sharps,
some flimsy tissue crepe in sun;
what permit issued, warmer time, 
appearance counter winter prime?

At least the lauded snowdrop bells -
supposed as signs of season’s turn -
present a thick waxed hardened shell,
break crystals blanket, ready dressed.
Yet here against the honeyed blocks
these sparkles brighter than the stone;
this Roman candle shower, stark
amidst the loom of bitter pall.

A magic carpet, hanging wall,
the Persians thought a gift from God;
but where the flaw, one thread bare missed
as blossom tides us to the spring?
This contradiction to the norm
is what declares the globe a place
where unexpected signs of grace
invade the drab, and real can change.

Stephen Kingsnorth (Cambridge M.A., English & Religious Studies), retired to Wales, UK, from ministry in the Methodist Church due to Parkinson’s Disease, has had pieces curated and published by on-line poetry sites, printed journals and anthologies, including Academy of the Heart and Mind.  He has, like so many, been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net.  His blog is at https://poetrykingsnorth.wordpress.com