The Soft Heart

Tilled ground the soft heart

and words like these the seeds

and words like these the water,

and words like these a sun

                                        Hafiz

________________________________________________________

spring comes

and spring goes

one day the promise of green

the next

white and gray

with wind and snow

the ground is hard

still frozen

from the travails of winter

nothing can penetrate

not even 

the life giving water of spring

so the seeds

hiding beneath the surface

the blooms that will brighten the world

are held

tightly 

as by a vice

by dry frozen hardness

ah for soft earth

where the gifts from heaven can enter in

and the promise

of life and joy can emerge

ah 

for a soft heart