Renewal

I grump, I slump, I scowl, I'm in a mood To judge, nitpick and be abruptly rude. Skies heavy under clouds of concrete gray Lost are the pinks and lavenders of May. This winter has worn down my sunny cheer A season's rain lasting throughout a year. Manners abandoned as passive and prim The strain on kinder spirits running grim. I swallowed full this bitter appetite Too eager for the apple's poisoned bite. An ice stone lodges where my heart once bled Frozen where human charity has fled. Like princesses asleep in frosty tombs I wait on kisses dropped from rosy blooms. At last, a crack, a ringlet of green thaw Renewal, like clover, fragile and raw. A rise in warming skies by shifting blues Outlines the sun's return in heathered hues. The promise within rainbow spring relies Upon the wings of snow white butterflies. 05/06/21 Rhyming Couplets contest Sponsor: Janice Canerdy The syllable count was verified on howmanysyllables.com