I have had a poem on my mind for days now. Despite the very, very wintry weather we have been experiencing here since last Sunday night, there are signs everywhere that spring is not far away.
I have noticed, in particular, that the willow tree branches are either turning golden or have a russet gold hue. My father quoted Robert Frost’s powerful poem on this phenomenon around this time of the year, just a few weeks before his death in September 1989.
“Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf,
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day,
Nothing gold can stay.” Robert Frost.
We read this poem at his memorial service.
But this year it speaks to me doubly as we watch one of our cats require increased supportive care from the vet and under go more tests as we try to determine the cause of his lack of appetite, high inflammation levels and spells of general malaise, despite our love and best efforts at home.
Spring with its vitality and message of new life can be harsh when events in that season tell of the opposite.
ordinarygoodness 
I do hope your cat recovers Lynley. A pet is like another child. So very special to us.
Thank you for your good wishes Judith. Pets do find a way into the depths of our heart. Lotte will be itching for a walk and still the rain pours down here with the wind driving it hard against the windows.
What a touching poem, with its associations with your father. I hope your cat can be helped back to health. It’s so hard to watch a beloved pet deteriorate.
Nature’s first green is gold is everywhere suddenly. Thank you for the good wishes about the cat.