Gentle Spring - A poem by Ellen P. Allerton

Gentle Spring.

These are signs of gentle spring:
Flocks of wild geese on the wing,
Flying in a broken string;

Brooks that tumble, roar and rush
Sinking drifts, and piles of slush,
And a uni versal mush.

Woman with a draggled dress,
Puddles that seem bottomless,
Roads all ditto^___such a mess!

Horses flounder, loaded down;
Swearing driver^___been to town^___
Curses, plunges -overthrown!

Fancy sleighs for sale at cost,
Balmy breezes, nipping frost,
Wild march mornings, tempest-tossed.

Robins, bluebirds, sleet and snow,
Icy winds, and sunny glow^___
What comes next you never know.

Sounds of coughs and choking wheezes,
And of loud, spasmodic sneezes,
Mingle with the straying breezes.

Handkerchiefs are bought and sold
By the dozen, I am told.
Question^___"Have you had your cold ?"

Come, ye singers, rise and sing!
Poets, tune your every string
For an ode to gentle spring.

^__Ellen P. Allerton.

Walls of Corn and Other Poems
Ellen P. Allerton
(Hiawatha, KS: Harrington Printing Company. 1894)
Pages 168-169