After a Winter's Silence
                     by May Sarton

Along the terrace wall
Snowdrops have pushed through
Hard ice, making a pool.
Delicate stems now show
White bells as though
The force, the thrust to flower
Were nothing at all.
Who gives them the power?

After a winter's silence
I feel the shock of spring.
My breath warms like the sun,
Melts ice, bursts into song.
So when that inner one
Gives life back the power
To rise up and push through,
There's nothing to it.
We simply have to do it,
As snowdrops know
When snowdrops flower.