
Darkness drops on dimming dusk
Sky is sprinkled with salt of stars
Gilded glints of gold aglow
Wake the world from wandering hours
Who can speed the break of dawn?
Who can heal the night’s long scars?

Climbing mountains – upward trail
Step by step this height to scale
Gurgling brook measuring time
On a long and steadfast climb
Climbing mountains – up so high
Rolling peaks touch clear blue sky
So far above our place and time
The height, the power of the climb
Climbing mountains – safe retreat
The place where sky and mountains meet
Towering rocks stand strong through time
A shelter from the weary climb
Climbing mountains – heart aglow
Traveling back to earth below
Hold this treasure for all time
The hope, the victory of the climb

Crocus popping up through the snow
Heralds spring with purple glow
Rich-hued iris follows soon
Bluebells play a pastel tune
Wild roses, lilies frilled
Poppies, pansies fill the field
Bleeding heart and columbine
Hang like jewels on the vine
Sweet lavender, bright snapdragons
Rainbow roses fill the gardens
Ornate carnations to celebrate
With baby’s breath so delicate
Summer goes with forget-me-nots
Exotic orchids fill winter’s pots

Great shining orb ascending
Painting clouds with a rosy glow
The flaming light breaks the horizon
Caught in slivers by waves below
Emerging by seconds into the sky
A perfect stone of reflected light
On an ever-changing trajectory
To project the sun into the night
Reflected glory of a greater light
Freely showered on us here
To guide the creatures of the night
And remind us that day is near
While echoing across the waves
In beams so silent and so strong
The moon yet faithfully shines down
To hold our dreams the whole night long

Snow on the ground is there to stay
In piles or snowmen or snowplowed towers
For even days upon days of sunny skies
Do not melt what came down in a dozen hours
As the snow turns to ice, and ice to slush
There seems no way to make it rush
For the ocean-like blanket thrown all around
So slowly, so slowly seeps into the ground
So just, when it’s snowing, be ready to say
“Snow on the ground is there to stay”