Spring's Gifts: Rain, Garden Flowers, and Nature's Beauty

On non-rainy spring mornings, I often receive a beautiful sunrise photo from my son, who enjoys taking early morning walks. 

Sunrise in Northern Virginia by Derek Varsalona

This photo reminded me of a poem written by John Clare. (The Rural Muse: Poems (Whittaker & Co., 1835) in the public domain.)

The Spring comes in with all her hues and smells,
In freshness breathing over hills and dells;
O’er woods where May her gorgeous drapery flings,
And meads washed fragrant by their laughing springs.
Fresh are new opened flowers, untouched and free
From the bold rifling of the amorous bee.
The happy time of singing birds is come,
And Love’s lone pilgrimage now finds a home;
Among the mossy oaks now coos the dove,
And the hoarse crow finds softer notes for love.
The foxes play around their dens, and bark
In joy’s excess, ’mid woodland shadows dark.
The flowers join lips below; the leaves above;
And every sound that meets the ear is Love.

This Memorial Day weekend, the rain continually drenched my gorgeous peonies. Our Memorial Day patio picnic with the family turned into an indoor event. When the rain took a quick pause, my 6-year-old grandgirl learned how to fill different types of vases with what was left of my cherished peonies.  

Before the Rain

After the Rain

I took one of the lines from John Clare's poem (see below) and created a Golden Hinge Poem introduced by Patricia Franz. 

Fresh are new opened flowers, untouched and free.
Are they nature's perennials sharing their
New budding gifts of glee? 
Opened petals of pink and soft white share
Flowers swaying in fashionable wear.
Untouched, they stand with dignity,
And pose for all to stare
Free from life's responsibility.

Draft, CVarsalona, 2026

Digital art of peonies by CVarsalona

Thank you to Mary Lee Hahn at A(Nother) Year of Reading for this week's Poetry Friday Roundup. She is setting up a summer picnic with "yummy offerings for today's potluck".