Optimism Shines
by E. L. Harrison

Optimism shines the way only sun can
Relentlessly and with no recognition
On a situation as bleak as they come
Bright and intentioned, risen with dawn
Lazy and low in the afternoon
And gone before the day is over
As we suffer the nights alone

Yellow trumpets sounded Spring’s arrival
Bleating like lambs lost in their way
Cries that fell upon deaf ears
Behind barriers, double-glazed
The narcissus awoke from their slumber
As we fell into hibernation
Now they’ve gone, and yet we’re still here

Cocooned in our cages
As the sun lilts sweetly in the air
And rainbows appear in the windows
Fingers impatiently tapping the frames
Testing the limits of limitation
But only the blooms blow freely
Unpicked and untainted

Yet optimism shines the way only sun can
Relentlessly and with no recognition
And Spring brings hope with reminders
Of its endless series of cycles
So may we all shine a little bit brighter
Knowing that next year we’ll bloom together

Image: Stuart Buck is a visual artist and award-winning poet living in North Wales. His art has been featured in several journals, as well as gracing the covers of several books. His third poetry collection, Portrait of a Man on Fire, is forthcoming from Rhythm & Bones Press in November 2020. He is the art editor for Konstellation Magazine and available for commissions all year round. He can be contacted via Twitter or E-Mail

E.L. Harrison holds a MA in Professional Creative Writing. She’s held an exhibition of her ‘green’ themed poetry with Positive Images Festival, written poetry for public display in a collective exhibition, and will have work appearing in the upcoming Silver Apples issue, as well as in the next print edition of CovWords.