Daffodils

DAFFODILS

Daffodils
Pushing their sharp points through the brown leaves,
Spreading their petals in the March sunshine,
Daffodils gleaming beside a garden wall.

A little girl
Eight or nine or ten years old,
With yellow hair in tight pigtails,
And round eyes staring at the world in wonder,
Dances from the big house.
She pokes at the snow in the corners
And listens to a bluebird
Singing in the red maple;
She lingers over the daffodils, her scissors poised.
Snip! ...Snip!
She cuts them,
Eight or nine or ten,
Flowers for her birthday cake,
The first daffodils blooming for her!

Daffodils
Shining in a florist's window,
And a woman
With eyes grown hard from looking too long at the world,
Staring at them,
Hearing the song of a bluebird
In a red maple.



Mary Pavey was born in 1905. She taught elementary school, married a farmer, raised twelve children, and wrote poetry. Mary's unpublished work has been read and loved by her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren for over 60 years. We dearly love Mary’s vibrant and generous heart, and her spirit is fully alive in her poems. We hope that by sharing her poetry with the world, her kindness and warmth will touch those who need it.